bubble-head
n.— «For those who served on board the storied Maryland, the one that survived Pearl Harbor and distinguished itself at such legendary venues as the Tarawa atoll, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa, no submarine can take the place of their battleship.…“I’m not sure it means that much to me, but I guess we’re proud the name lives on—at least as proud as a Navy sailor can be of a bubble-head.”» —“Birth of new USS Maryland stirs hearts of those who served on ‘Fighting Mary’” by Peter Jensen Baltimore Sun (Maryland) Aug. 9, 1991. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
When there’s no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? Some people apply acronyms like YOYO — “you’re on your own” — or CORN, for “Clean Out your Refrigerator...
Mark in Bismarck, North Dakota, spent years as a sailor, and wonders about the term sea painter, meaning “a rope attached to a lifeboat.” Why painter? The word may derive from Middle French pendeur meaning “a kind of rope that...