handy-billy

Updated: January 19, 2026

When appointed as such, in later days, he came in "with the hay-seed in his hair," and went out fit for a lieutenant's charge; but from first to last, whatever his personal progress, he remained, as a midshipman, a handy-billy.

A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan - From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life