Bunting tosser

{{Short description|Informal term for a type of sailor}}

File:Signalmen on HMS Pandora, early 20th century.jpg in the early 20th century]]

'Bunting tosser' or 'Bunts' is an informal term used in the Royal Navy to describe the sailors who hoist signal flags. Although dating from the period of signalling by flags,{{cite web

|title=Bunting Tosser

|url=http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/FLAGS/vxt-dvb3.html#buntingtosser

|publisher=Dictionary of Vexillology

|accessdate=2013-05-11

}} it has survived as a general term for naval signallers.{{cite web

|title=My father, ... served as a signalman (a bunting tosser)

|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/user/04/u235604.shtml

|publisher=BBC WW2 People's War project

|accessdate=2013-05-11

|archive-date=2013-04-19

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419232217/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/user/04/u235604.shtml

|url-status=dead

}} Wireless operators may also be termed 'sparkers'.

Bunting is now a commonplace term for any small decorative flags or streamers strung on a line, but its original etymology is more specific as the worsted cloth used for flags in the Navy.

The term doesn't appear in Covey-Crump, although that is a far from infallible source.Covey Crump on Brass Monkeys

Although the naval term, 'bunting tosser' is known across the services, and may be used as a jocular insult amongst Army signallers, its use implies that the intended is only fit for the Navy.{{cite web

|title=Tidied up your gash spelling as well, you Bunting tosser.

|url=http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/p=1948550.html#1948550

|publisher=ARmy Rumour SErvice

}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}