Shipmate is used to describe someone who you crew a ship with, such as in the navy, and is supposed to convey comradery.
E xcept in its real world use, where its the social equivalent of referring to someone as "s**head".
Interesting. I wonder if the similarity of the words "ship" and "shit" contributed to the development. Out of curiosity, what is the non-pejorative replacement for shipmate?
Just common english slang, bro, dude, whatevers on their nametag or a first name/nickname if they have one; nothing dissimilar to civilian life and I think thats largely the point, even last names are commonly referred to as "slave names". Formal speech is all ranks, "hey chief", "yes petty officer".
I guess like "comrade", any kind of imposed social norm becomes an object of satire?
I think so, I remember a joke bill burr made about any term used to describe the mentally underdeveloped will inevitably be used satirically.