Posted on Oct 27, 2016
When did people outside the military start using the adjective "salty"?
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It might just be me, and I have been known to be oblivious to certain aspects of pop culture (like who's dating who and who sang what song, etc) but before I joined the military I never noticed people using the term "salty" to describe someone that's acting bitter or disgruntled. Now I see it all the time. Facebook posts, memes, even E-Sports. Is this a recent thing or did it just go over my head?
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Posted 8 y ago
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It has a few traditional uses in the Navy. An old salt was a lifer that we'd accuse of starting out with canvas sails. Salty uniforms were faded, threadbare, etc. Salty language was cussing. So I'd expect it was hijacked for the later use primarily based on disgruntled people's language.
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When I was in the Marine Corps, the word "salty" was used to describe someone who has a lot of time in service, and is experienced and seasoned. I'm not sure how the current usage in social media started.
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