It is an undoubted fact that water travel is besides the source of more false etymology than any early sphere. This can be attributed to the attractiveness of the amatory image of horny-handed sailors singing shanties and living a hearty and crude liveliness at sea. After all, it sounds plausible that ‘ cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass putter ’ comes from brass ship ’ randomness fittings and that POSH means ‘ Port out, starboard home ’, but neither of these is correct. CANOE, the Committee to Ascribe a Naval Origin to Everything, doesn ’ t in truth exist, but the count of these tribe myths makes it seem as though they do…
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It is golden for us, in our endeavours to distinguish truth from falsification, that activities at sea have been scrupulously recorded over the centuries, in policy records, newspaper accounts and, not least, in ships ’ log books. The condition log-book has an interesting derivation in itself. An early shape of measuring a ship ’ second progress was by casting overboard a wooden board ( the log ) with a string attached. The rate at which the string was paid out as the ship moved aside from the stationary log was measured by counting how long it took between knots n the string. These measurements were late transcribed into a book. Hence we get the term ‘ log-book ’ and besides the name ‘ knot ’ as the unit of speed at ocean.
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Reading: Nautical Slang in Common Usage
Above board – Anything on or above the overt deck. If something is loose and in complain position, it is above control panel.
All at sea – This dates to the time when accurate navigational aids weren ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate available. Any ship that was out of sight of land was in an unsealed position and in risk of becoming lost.
Aloof – nowadays means to stand apart or be immaterial, but it came from the Old Dutch word loef which meant “ windward ” and was used to describe a ship within a fleet which sailed higher to the wind and was thus drawn apart from the rest of the fleet.
At loggerheads – An iron ball attached to a long handle was a loggerhead. When heated it was used to seal the pitch in pack of cards seams. It was sometimes a handy weapon for quarrelling crewmen.
Chock-a-block – A block and fishing gear is a pulley system used on sailing ships to hoist the sails. The phrase describes what occurs the system is raised to its fullest extent – when there is no more r-2 dislodge and the blocks jam tightly together. predictably this conduct to its current entail, “ crammed therefore tightly together as to prevent movement ”.
Clean bill of health – A certificate signed by a port authority attesting that no catching disease existed in the port of departure and none of the crowd was infected with a disease at the time of sailing. Shore-side, it means in good shape.
Clear the deck – One of the things done in cooking for battle. current usage similar to batten down the hatches.
Close quarters – In the seventeenth century, the barriers that sailors laid across a transport ’ s deck in order to provide a safe seaport from the enemy were called close-fights. By the mid eighteenth hundred that confined defensive space became called ‘ close quarters ’, i.e. close dwellings. This finally came to mean ‘ near enough to to be able to fight hand to hired hand ’.
Copper-bottomed – described ships that were fitted with copper plating on the bottom of their hulls. The serve was first used on ships of the british Navy in 1761 to defend their wooden planking against attack by Teredo worms a.k.a. Shipworms and to reduce infestations by barnacles. The method was successful in protecting ships ’ timbers and in increasing rush and maneuverability and soon became widely used. Before farseeing, ‘ copper-bottom ’ began to be used figuratively to refer to anything that was certain and trustworthy.
Cut and run – most much thought to mean the cut of an anchor occupation in an effort to make a quick pickup. Hard to imagine that many ship ’ s masters enjoyed routinely losing an anchor or two, so it is credibly more likely referring to the practice of securing the sails of a square-rigged ship with rope yarns that could easily be cut away when a quick passing was necessary.
Cut of one’s jib – warships many times had their foresails or jib sails cut thinly then that they could maintain point and not be blown off course. Upon sighting thin foresails on a aloof ship a master might not like the cut of his jibe and would then have an opportunity to escape.
Deliver a broadside – the coincident arouse of the guns and/or canons on one side of a warship. Quite a shove off, as can be imagined. today it means much the like character of all-out fire, though done ( normally ) with words.
Devil to pay – in the first place, this expression described one of the unpleasant tasks aboard a wooden ship. The annoy was the ship ’ mho longest wrinkle in the hull. Caulking was done with pay or pitch ( a kind of tar ). The tax of ‘ paying the monster ’ ( caulking the longest seam ) by squatting in the bilges was one of the worst and most difficult jobs onboard. The term has come to mean a unmanageable, apparently impossible task. ‘ The hellion to pay and no pitch hot ’. Landlubbers, having no seafaring cognition, assumed it referred to satan and gave the condition a moral interpretation.
Dressing down – thin and careworn sails were much treated with oil or wax to renew their potency. This was called “ dressing down ”. An military officer or bluejacket who was reprimanded or scolded received a dressing down.
Dutch courage – Dates to the 1600s Anglo-Dutch wars and was probable british propaganda claim that the dutch troops were so cowardly they wouldn ’ t fight unless fortified with copious amounts of schnapps. The term has come to mean fake courage induced by drink, or the swallow itself.
Edging forward – This phrase describes inch-by-inch progress and was first used in the seventeenth century, typically in nautical context and referring to slow boost by means of repeated belittled tack movements.
Even keel – A vessel that floats upright without number is said to be on an even stagger and this term has come to mean steady and steady. A keel is like the anchor of the vessel, the lowest and principal centerline structural member running fore and aft. Keeled over ( top down ) was a bluejacket ’ s term for death.
Fall foul of/foul up – foul is an much use nautical term by and large meaning entangled or impeded. An anchor tangled in telephone line or cable is said to be a clog anchor. A cruddy position is caused by another vessel anchoring excessively close wherein the gamble of collision exists. A disgusting bottom offers poor holding for anchors. A screw up !
Fathom – A nautical measure equal to six feet, used to measure the astuteness of water system at ocean. The parole was besides used to describe taking the measure or “ to fathom ” something. nowadays when one is trying to figure something out, they are trying to fathom it or get to the bottom of it.
Figurehead – An ornamental design placed on the movement of a ship, under the. primitively a religious and/or protective emblem. The custom continued but for strictly cosmetic purposes. Hence the term front man – a leader with no real power or officiate except to ‘ look good ’ or appeal to a certain group.
Filibuster – Buccaneers were sometimes known in England as filibusters. From the dutch for vrybuiter ( plunderer ) translated into French as flibustier. It is now used as a political term meaning to delay or obstruct the enactment of legislation ( as opposed to sailing vessels ) by non-stop speech make.
First rate – Implies excellence. From the sixteenth hundred on until steam powered ships took over, british naval ships were rated as to the total of heavy cannon they carried. A ship of 100 or more guns was a first Rate line-of-battle ship. second rates carried 90 to 98 guns ; Third Rates, 64 to 89 guns ; Fourth Rates, 50 to 60 guns. Frigates carrying 20 to 48 guns were fifth and sixth rated.
Fits the bill – A Bill of Lading was signed by the transport ’ s passkey acknowledging receipt of specified goods and the promise to deliver them to their destination in the lapp discipline. Upon delivery, the goods were checked against the bill to see if all was in order. If so, they fit the poster.
Flotsam and jetsam – These are legal terms in nautical law. Flotsam is any separate of the wreckage of a ship or her cargo that is lost by accident and found floating on the surface of the water. Jetsam are goods or equipment intentionally thrown overboard ( jettisoned ) to make the embark more stable in high winds or heavy seas. ( Lagan are goods cast overboard with a r-2 attached therefore that they may be retrieved and sometimes refers to goods remaining inside a dip ship or lying on the buttocks. ) The term flotsam and jetsam shore-side means odds and ends of no bang-up value.
Footloose – The penetrate dowry of a sail is called the foot. If it is not secured, it is footloose and it dances randomly in the weave.
From stem to stern – From the front of a transport to the back. now describes something in its entirety.
Flying colours – To come through a battle with flying colours means a embark has come through relatively unharmed and with her colours ( flag ) flying.
Get underway – ‘ Way ’ here doesn ’ triiodothyronine mean road or route but has the specifically nautical mean of ‘ the forward advance of a ship though the water ’, or the wake that the ship leaves behind. Way has been used like that since at least the seventeenth century.
Give a wide berth – To anchor a embark far enough away from another ship so that they did not hit each early when they swung with the wind or tide.
Go overboard – The nautical origin of this one should be fairly axiomatic.
Gripe – A seafaring vessel gripes when, by poor design or imbalance of cruise, it tends to end up with its bow into the wind instrument when sailing close-hauled. The sail flap around, forward advance is halted and she is very hard to steer. On farming, the term means to complain, complain, complain.
Groggy – In 1740, british Admiral Vernon ( whose dub was “ Old Grogram ” for the clothe of grogram which he wore ) ordered that the sailors ’ day by day ration of rummy be diluted with water. The men called the mix “ grog ”. A bluejacket who drank excessively much grog was “ dazed ”.
Groundswell – A sudden rise of water along the land. It much happens when the weather is fine and the sea behind it appears sedate. Said to occur when roll water from a far away storm reaches the shoreline where friction causes the swell. In coarse function, the term groundswell means a growing change in public impression.
Hand over fist – hand over hand was a british term for the act of moving cursorily up a rope or hoisting a cruise, which was a topic of pride and competition among sailors. It is thought that american sailors changed this term to ‘ hand over fist ’, and the term now means to advance or accumulate quickly.
Hard and fast – A ship that was hard and debauched was just one that was firm beached on estate. Has come to mean ‘ rigidly adhered to – without doubt or argument ’.
Hard-up – Hard is another much used nautical terminus. To put the helm unvoiced over is to put it deoxyadenosine monophosphate army for the liberation of rwanda as it will go in that direction. Hard and firm describes a vessel firm aground and ineffective to make progress and has come ashore to mean rigid. ‘ Hard up in a clinch and no knife to cut the seizing ’, the term from which hard up derives, was a sailor ’ second way of saying he had been overtaken by misfortune and saw no means of getting clear of it. Shore-side, the term means in necessitate.
Haze – Long before brotherly organisations, haze was the practice of keeping the crew working all hours of the day or night, whether necessary or not, in holy order to deprive them of sleep and to make them broadly miserable. In the nineteenth hundred, many captains used this commit to assert their authority. Hazing has come to mean the initiation of a newcomer to a group by humiliating and harassing him or her, thereby asserting the authority of the group.
High and dry – This term in the first place referred to ships that were beached. The ‘ dry ’ implies that not only were they out of the water system, but had been for some clock time and could be expected to remain thus.
Hot chase – A principle of naval war, though without basis in law, that allowed a fleeing enemy to be followed into neutral waters and captured there if the chase had begun in international waters. The term hot pursuit derives from this ‘ principle ’.
Hulk/hulking – A big and unwieldy ship of bare construction and doubtful seaworthiness. On prop up, it means big and awkward.
In the offing – This phrase is quite simpleton to understand once you know that ‘ the offing ’ is the part of the ocean that can be seen from land, excluding those parts that are near the prop up. early text besides refer to it as ‘ offen ’ or ‘ offin ’. A embark that was about to arrive was “ in the offing ”, therefore at hand, which is how the phrase is used today.
Idle/idler – idle was the name for those members of a transport ’ s crew that did not stand night determine because of their workplace. Carpenters, sailmakers, cooks, etc. worked during the day and were excused from watch duty at night. They were called idlers, but not because they had nothing to do, just because they were off duty at night.
Junk – Old lasso nobelium longer able to take a warhead, it was cut into shorter lengths and used to make mops and mats. Land-side, debris is all that farce in your garage you know you ’ ll indigence right after you throw it away.
Jury rig – A temp repair to keep a disable ship sailing until it could make port, such as a jury sail erected when the mast was lost or a jury rudder as an hand brake means of steering when the ship ’ randomness rudder was damaged.
Keel hauling – A austere naval punishment during the 15th and 16th centuries. The victim, presumably a delinquent bluejacket, was dragged from one side of the boat to the early, under the bottom of the boat ( keel ). Tossed over one side and pulled up on the other, he was normally allowed to catch his hint before abruptly being tossed overboard again. Keel hauling lost favor at the begin of the eighteenth hundred, to be replaced by the cat-o-nine-tails. The term hush means a grating rebuke.
Know the ropes – This is pretty obvious if you ’ ve always seen a improbable embark. It was such an important skill on sailing vessels that an honorable discharge from service was marked, at one prison term, with the term ‘ knows the ropes ’. Land-side it hush means a person with experience and skill. besides, learn the ropes and show them the ropes.
Leeway – The weather side of a transport is the side from which the wind is blowing. The Lee side is the side of the ship sheltered from the weave. A lee shore is a prop up that is downwind of a embark. If a ship does not have adequate “ leeway ” it is in danger of being driven onto the shore.
Listless – When a ship was dispirited, she was sitting still and upright in the water, with no wind to make her lean over ( list ) and drive ahead.
Long hau l – operation on transport requiring the haul of a lot of line. besides seen in short haul, an operation requiring fiddling tune.
Long shot – In old warships, the muzzle-loading cannon were charged with black gunpowder of changeable potency that would propel the iron shot an equally uncertain distance with doubtful accuracy. A 24-pounder long gunman, for example, was considered to have a utmost effective compass of 1200 yards, tied though, under the right conditions, a ball might travel some 3000 yards. similarly, a short, stubby 32-pounder carronade ’ sulfur deadliness faded firm beyond 400 yards. frankincense, the odds were against a hit when one fired a retentive nip.
Loose cannon – A cannon having come easy on the deck of a flip, wheel, and yawing deck could cause austere wound and damage. Has come to mean an unpredictable or uncontrolled person who is likely to cause unintentional price.
Mainstay – A quell that extends from the maintop to the metrical foot of the foremast of a sweep ship. Currently, a thing upon which something is based or depends.
No room to swing a cat – The entire ship ’ s caller was required to witness flogging at close hired hand. The gang might crowd around so that the Bosun ’ sulfur Mate might not have enough room to swing his cat oxygen ’ nine tails.
On your ends – The glow here are the horizontal cross timbers of ships. This phrase came about with the allusion to the danger of at hand capsize if the ends were touching the water. Currently, means ‘ to be in a bad site ’.
Over the barrel – The most common method of punishment aboard embark was flogging. The inauspicious sailor was tied to a diffraction grating, mast or over the barrel of a deck cannon.
Overbearing – To sail windward directly at another ship frankincense “ stealing ” or diverting the wind instrument from his sails.
Overhaul – To prevent the buntline ropes from chaffing the sails, gang were sent aloft to haul them over the sails. This was called overhaul.
Overreach – If a ship holds a tack course besides long, it has overreached its turning point and the distance it must travel to reach its future tack charge is increased.
Overwhelm – Old English for capsize or founder.
Pipe down – A boatswain ’ s call denoting the completion of an all hands development, and that you can go below. It was the last sign from the Bosun ’ s pipe each day which meant “ lights out ” and “ silence ”.
Pooped – The backmost, highest deck of a sailing ship was called the stern deck. If a ship were unlucky adequate to be overtaken by a massive, breaking ocean which drenched her from aft, she was said to have been “ pooped. ” When you think about it, the sea and shore uses of the bible aren ’ t that unlike : in both cases, you ’ re washed out.
Press into service – The british navy filled their ships ’ crew quotas by kidnapping men off the streets and forcing them into serve. This was called Impressment and was done by Press Gangs.
Scuttlebutt – A butt was a barrel. Scuttle meant to chop a trap in something. The gossip was a water barrel with a trap cut into it then that sailors could reach in and dip out drink in water. The gossip was the place where the ship ’ south gossip was exchanged.
Ship-shape and Bristol fashion – A reference book to the accurate nature of shipbuilding ( and alimony ) a well as the emblematic work that came from Bristol shipyards.
Shiver me timbers – one meaning of shudder, which is now largely forgotten, is ‘ to break into pieces ’. That meaning originated at least adenine early as the fourteenth century and is recorded in respective Old English text. so, the boater ’ s oath shudder my timbers, is synonymous with ( if sol and thus happen then… ) let my gravy boat break into pieces.
Skyscraper – A little triangular sail set above the skysail in arrange to maximise effect in a light wind.
Slush fund – A bathetic slurry of fat was obtained by boiling or scraping the empty salt kernel memory barrels. This stuff called “ slosh ” was often sold ashore by the ship ’ sulfur cook for the benefit of himself or the crew. The money so derive became known as a splash store.
Son of a gun – When in port, and with the crowd restricted to the ship for any extend period of time, wives and ladies of easy virtue often were allowed to live aboard along with the crew. infrequently, but not uncommonly, children were born aboard, and a convenient set for this was between guns on the gunman deck. If the child ’ s don was stranger, they were entered in the ship ’ s log as “ son of a gunman ”. credibly a sanitize interpretation of “ son of a bitch ”, despite the respective folk music etymologies.
A square meal – In good upwind, crews ’ mess was a warm meal served on public square wooden platters.
Squared away – On square-rigged vessels, the state of the sails when by rights trimmed. presently, arranged or dealt with in a satisfactory manner.
Taken aback – A dangerous position where the wind is on the ill-timed side of the sails pressing them back against the mast and forcing the ship astern. Most often this was caused by an inattentive helmsman who had allowed the ship to head up into the wind.
Taking the wind out of his sails – Sailing in a manner so as to steal or divert wind instrument from another ship ’ randomness sails.
Taking turns – Changing watches with the turn of the hour field glass.
Three sheets to the wind – A tabloid is a rope line which controls the tension on the windward side of a square sweep. If, on a three masted amply rigged ship, the sheets of the three lower course sails are loosen, the sails will flap and flutter and are said to be “ in the wind ”. A ship in this condition would stagger and wander aimlessly downwind.
Tide over – At first glance, this would seem to be an obviously nautical condition. today it means to make a small bit of something, normally money, last until a supply comes in, as in borrowing some money to tide you over till payday. however, the mean has changed over the years. once upon a meter, ships could move under cruise exponent, or in the absence of wind instrument, float along with the tide called a tide over. One could say the aimless would tide the ship over until wind came again to move it along.
Toe the line – When called to line up at attention, the embark ’ s crew would form up with their toes touching a seam in the deck planking.
True colours – The current think of, ‘ to reveal yourself as you actually are ’, actually came about because of the diametric phrase “ fake color ” – from the seventeenth century referring to a vessel which sailed under a flag not her own. This tactic was used by about everyone as a ruse de guerre, but the rules of gentlemanlike behavior ( and possibly actual legal rules ) required one to raise one ’ south true colours before opening fire on another ship.
Try a different tack – The steering in which a ship moves equally determined by the position of its sails and regarded in terms of the commission of the wreathe ( starboard tack ). If one baste didn ’ thyroxine bring the embark up properly, one could always attempt another.
Turn a blind eye – From Admiral Lord Nelson ’ s amazing display of badassery at the Battle of Copenhagen. When the signal was given to stop crusade, Nelson held his field glass to his blind eye and insisted he didn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate see the signal. He then proceeded to kick border, of course.
Under the weather – Keeping watch onboard sailing ships was a drilling and boring job, but the worst watch station was on the “ weather ” ( windward ) side of the bow. The bluejacket who was assigned to this station was discipline to the changeless pitching and roll of the ship. By the end of his watch, he would be soaked from the waves crashing over the bow. A bluejacket who was assigned to this unpleasant duty was said to be “ under the weather. ” sometimes, these men fell ill and died as a consequence of the grant, which is why today “ under the upwind ” is used to refer to person suffering from an illness. A related theory claims that ill sailors were sent below deck ( or “ under the upwind ” ) if they were feeling sick.
Warning shot across the bow – From the actual practice of firing a admonitory shoot across another ship ’ s bow to encourage the captain to strike without engaging.
Windfall – A sudden unexpected rush of wind from a mountainous shore which allowed a ship more allowance .
