were covered in tar from the sheets and rigging and it was considered unseemly to show an officer or a member of the Royal family a dirty palm. Toasts The Toasts of the Royal Navy are a set of traditional drinking toasts. In June 2013 the Tuesday and Saturday toasts were officially changed under orders from the Second Sea Lord, Vice-Admiral David Steel, to reflect the fact that women have been at sea in the Royal Navy for nearly two decades. Officially the Tuesday toast is now "our sailors" and the Saturday toast is "our families". However, the vast majority of personnel ignore the official change, and use the traditional toasts. While most of these toasts are self-explanatory, "a bloody war or a sickly season" refers to the desire and likelihood of being promoted when many people die: during war or sickness. In addition, when referring to "Old Ships" (alternate toast for Wednesday), "ships" is referring to 'shipmates'. On completion of the daily toast, it was often customary to conclude with the following tribute. "But the standing toast, that pleased the most was, to the wind that blows the ship that goes, and the lass that loves a sailor" - Charles Dibdin (1740-1814). The toasts are typically given by the youngest officer present at the mess dinner. By tradition, these toasts are proposed immediately after the loyal toast, on the relevant day of the week. The Navy makes the loyal toast seated. This was a special dispensation granted by William IV, who had narrowly missed cracking his head several times on low deckheads when serving in the Royal Navy. Affiliation Ships will engage in a number of affiliations. It is often misunderstood that ships are named after places when normally they are associated with the local lord e.g. the Duke of Marlborough. There were however a number of vessels named after places during World War II after schools, cadet units and charities. At one time every Sea Cadet unit in the UK had an affiliated ship (with the exception of Kettering, which is affiliated with 800 Naval Air Squadron; Yeovilton, now disbanded; and Yeovil unit which, due to its location on RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), is affiliated with 848 Helicopter Squadron). However, now that Sea Cadet units outnumber Royal Navy vessels, this is no longer possible. Naval slang The RN has evolved a rich volume of slang, known as Jackspeak.