"Lobsterback" is a slang term used by Americans for British
soldiers during the American Revolutionary War. I have heard two
explanations for this. One is that the red coats worn on by the
British resembled the red shells of cooked lobsters. Another is
that British soldiers were whipped so frequently by their officers
that their backs became scarred. Multiple scars might make their
bare backs resemble the segmented shells of lobsters, but I can't
imagine that the Patriot army would have seen their enemy shirtless
often enough to make this explanation plausible. I believe the red
coat theory to be correct. Perhaps British soldiers once called
each other lobsterbacks because of scarring, but I suspect not.
