sailing idioms

Hi All,

I'm trying to compile a list of idioms and sayings we use in modern-day language that have their origin in sailing or the maritime in general.

I have made a start but need some input from the sailing community.

You can find my list here: talltelltales.com/2020/09/12/did-you-know/

If it is not in the list then let me know and I will add it.

Thanks in advance...

Rene

Four sheets in ( to) the wind.

Nice work ...

... but it aroused the pedant in me.

"Noah " has an "h" at the end.

Women give birth, not "berth".

You might also look up "square meal", "between the devil and the deep blue sea", "not enough room to swing a cat".

I didn't know "as the crow flies". Its an odd idiom because crows generally fly in the least straight lines of any bird. They seem to tumble about all over the place. There might be a tenuous connection to Noah. When he tested whether it was safe to come out of the Ark, he let out a Raven, which flew around and didn't find land, then a dove, which did. See Genesis chapters 6 to 9. Perhaps the relatively more recent (i.e. 16th century onward) sailing fraternity tried the same technique. Incidentally, "Ark" (or "box" or "safe-box" or perhaps "safe") has the same root as "arcane", or "secure", "secret", "inaccessible", and conveys the sense of God making Noah and his family safe in the Ark during the calamity and violence of the flood.

Etymology is fun.

Top effort Rene.

So at the link you have now corrected the Noah spelling but as far as I can see have not added the bananabender or kinora inputs as above?

Achernar what has berthing a yacht got to do with women giving birth? Think you might have out-pedanted yourself here but I might be missing something...........

As per 2Shakey there would be hundreds of sea jargon phrases................

Including "walk the plank", "keel hauled", "man the yard arm"..........

This collection is presented by the
Queensland Maritirne Museum
P.O. Box 3098.
South Brisbane Qld. 41A1
Australia.
Proudly supported by the
Brisbane City Council

LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG
These days, the expression means to blab. to
divulge a secret. About 200 years ago, it would
have brought chills to the spine on board a naval
vessel, where the captain's word was law and discipline
was brutally enforced. lf crew members disobeyed
an order or were charged with even a trivial
offence, they could be flogged; so that they shuddered
when an incident occured that let the cat out of
the bag --- that is, resulted in the bosun taking the
cat-o-nine-tails out of its canvas bag.

NOT ENOUGH ROOM TO
SWING A CAT
This expression has nothing to do with someone
swinging our furry feline friend round theirhead by the
tail. Rather it relates to the "cat-o'-nine-tails-" the whip
with nine lengths of knotted rope. On board a naval
vessel in the 1700s and early 1800s conditions
were almost intolerable, with rotten food, very little
light and ventilation, and crarnped quarters. There
was so little room below deck that the crew might
complain there was not enough room to swing a
cat. ln other words, there was not enough room for
the ships bosun to flog a crew member with the cat-onine-
tails. Not that the crew complained very often!
They knew what the result would be if they did or if
they committed an offence.

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
A special form of punishment was reserved for
a thief on board a naval vessel who stole another
crew member's possessions. He was made to trot
the length of the deck between two rows of sailors
armed with knotted ropes and be subjected to their
blows. This punishment was known as running the
gauntlet. These days, anyone "running the gauntlet"
is subjected only to hardship or criticism,
Fortunately not to punishing blows with a
knotted rope.

OVER A BARREL
Another type of punishment infliicted on a disobedient
or offending naval rating was being
lashed face down to one of the ships cannons
and flogged. Hence the sailor was over the
gun's bLirel. Today, someone "over a barrel" is
in a predicament, usually at the mercy of someone
else, but at least is not being subjected to
physical pain and
suffering.

TAKEN ABACK
lf a person is taken aback, they receive a
sudden surprise or shock, generally as a result
of some action or remark. A sailing ship was
taken aback when, while proceeding normaly
with the wind from astern or from either the
starboard or port quarter, she was struck by a
sudden squall head on, thereby forcing the
sails back on to the masts and bringing her to
an abrupt halt.

BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND
THE DEEP BLUE SEA
How can anyone be between the devil and the
deep blue sea? Does it mean they are under
water? These days, someone "between the
devil and the deep blue sea" is certainly in a difficult
position--- so it was in the days of sail.
On wooden sailing ships the seam between
the planks on the outside of the bulwarks at '
deck level was know as the devil. Under the
constant strain exerted by the supporting wires
and ropes from the sides of the ships to the
masts, parlicularly when the ship was under full
sail, this seam, or gap used to open. As part of
the general maintenance on board, a seaman
would be lowered over the side and hammer
oakum - a fibre obtained from picking old rope--
into the parted seam and then apply hot pitch or
tar. ( this proceedure was known as paying;
hence the expressions "the devil to pay" and
"pay the devil", which means today that trouble
lies ahead.) The seaman in this precarious position
over the side was said to be between the
devil and the deep blue sea.

SHOW A LEG
Not withstanding all the hardships endured by
seamen white at sea, in port they were
offered certain incentives not to desert or jump
ship. While in port - sometimes for very long
periods - sailors on British naval vessels were
actually allowed to accomodate women
(ostensibly their wives) on board. This practice
was not abolished by the Royal Navy until 1840.
Of course women were not allowed to
accompany the naval ratings on their voyages,
so before sailing, the ships bosun would do the
rounds of the lower decks and order anyone in a
hammock to show a leg. By this means he was
able to acertain whether the occupant of the
hammock was male or female. These days, the
expression is more often "Shake a leg!", meaning
to get a move on.

SON OF A GUN
Not surprisingly, the practice of allowing women
to live on board during the ships stay in poft --
often for more than nine months -- led to
cefiain consequences. The only place in the
jam-packed lower decks of a naval vessel
where a woman could give bifth was either
between or beneath the ships guns. A child
born under such circumstances was known as
a son of a gun. These days a "Son of a Gun"
is a good mate.

TO THE BITTER END
These days, when someone has to see something
through "to the bitter end", it means they
will have to press on regardless of the consequences.
On board ship the expression has
nothing to do with unpleasant situations'
ShiPs' mooring lines have to be
maintained in good order so they will not pad
while a ship is berthed. A mooring line has one
end coiled around bitts (short stumpy posts) on
the ship's deck so that the line will not come free
when pulled taut. From time to time the lines
are checked from the free end to the end around
the bitts to ensure that they are not worn
through. ln other words, they are checked from
the free end to the bitter end.

SWEET FANNY ADAMS
lf a person is asked today how much they know
about a particular matter and reply "Sweet Fanny
Adams", it means they know nothing. Over 200
years ago, however, the expression had a somewhat
macabre meaning.
ln the 1860s the Royal Navy introduced
tinned meat as part of the crews rations, and in
those days the origin of the meat was sometimes
suspect. lt so happened that in 1867 a parlicular
gruesome murder occured in the small Hampshire
village of Alton, not far from Portsmouth. A
young girl named Fanny Adams was killed and
her body cut up into small pieces, allegedly by a
local butcher. The crews of the naval vessels
stationed at Portsmouth, sometimes unable to determine
what the mysterious contents of their new
tinned rations were, quickly came to associate
them with the missing bits of Miss Adams.

Acknowledgements.
The text was collected and collated by
Mr Warwick Foote.. Honorary Curator'
The illustrations are bY
Mr. Don Braben FASMA.