Editing Bilge (section)

== "Bilge rat" ==
The term "bilge rat" typically refers to members of a ship's crew who work in the bowels of the vessel, where rats would sometimes breed.<ref name="Robson 2018">{{cite book|last=Robson|first=Martin|date=2018|title=Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat: Naval Slang and Its Everyday Usage|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|isbn=978-1472834201}}</ref> The term was sometimes used in the [[Royal Navy]] to describe [[Stoker (occupation)|stoker]]s who shovelled coal into the boilers of steam-powered warships.<ref name="Robson 2018" /> It is utilized as an insult,<ref>{{cite book|last=Breverton|first=Terry|author-link=Terry Breverton|date=2004|title=The Pirate Dictionary|publisher=[[Pelican Publishing Company]]|page=16|isbn=978-1589802438}}</ref> and often employed as such by writers of [[pirate fiction]].<ref name="Robson 2018" />