In article , vincent p.
norris writes
My knowledge of Service slang is strictly UK-based, crabs and
pongoes and all that.
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

OK, Peter, turn about is fair play! What the hell are crabs, pongoes,
and Ying tong iddle-i po!

vince norris

The Royal Navy refers to the RAF as Crabair and RAF personnel as crabs.
The RAF, and possibly the RN, refer to the army as pongoes or brown
jobs. My Dad, a retired Territorial Army officer, was a little peeved
when I decided when at school to join the Air Training Corps, and
muttered things about "bloody Brylcreem Boys", which was a bit WW2.

"Ying tong iddle-i po" is the title of a song from The Goon Show, a BBC
radio comedy series first broadcast from 1952 to 1960. The original
participants were Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe (both ex Royal
Artillery), Peter Sellers, of whom you may have heard, and Michael
Bentine (both ex RAF). The programme was irreverent and surreal (written
by Spike) and was a revolution in British comedy. Without the Goons,
Monty Python's Flying Circus might never have come about, and their
influence can clearly be seen in it.. People of a certain age, such as
the Prince of Wales and me, grew up listening to the Goons and were
profoundly warp^h^h^h affected by them.

Needle nardle noo!
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!