Fun Sailing Based Phrases
Hello All!
Joy Here!
I had so much fun writing my last post and looking for fun phrases about sailing that I decided I would write a post about just that.
There are literally dozens of them, so I have picked out some of my favourites.
I will share my sources at the bottom of the post in case you want to dive a little deeper.
Above Board
Pirates would often hide much of their crew below the deck. Ships that displayed crew openly on the deck were thought to be honest merchant ships known as “above board.”
As the Crow Flies
The most direct route from one place to another without detours. Before modern navigational systems existed, British vessels customarily carried a cage of crows. These birds fly straight to the nearest land when released at sea, thus indicating where the nearest land was.
I had no idea about that one!
The next one made me smile because The Bitter End is one of Captain Chris’s favourite places in the B.V.I...
Bitter End
The last part of a rope or final link of chain. The end attached to the vessel, as opposed to the “working end” which may be attached to an anchor, cleat, other vessel, etc.
Today the term is used to describe a final, painful, or disastrous conclusion (however unpleasant it may be).
Footloose and Fancy-Free
The word comes from the name of the bottom of a sail – the foot – which must be attached to the boom. If it is not properly attached it may become “footloose” causing the vessel not to sail properly. Footloose and fancy-free have come to mean someone acting without commitment.
I must say, I’m feeling rather footloose and fancy-free myself these days!
Letting the Cat Out of the Bag
This term comes from the old naval punishment of being whipped with a “cat o’ nine tails.” The whip was kept in a leather bag and when the sailors “let the Cat out of the bag” they had usually done something that would result in punishment. The term today means someone has said something that was not to be said, or revealed a secret.
...and while we are on the subject of cats, there is this one...
No Room to Swing a Cat
During the whipping punishment using the “cat o’ nine tails,” all hands were called on deck to witness. With a full crew, the deck could be so crowded that the cat o’ nine tails was difficult to use without hitting other crew members. In other words, there was “no room to swing a cat.” Today the expression is used to indicate crowded or packed surroundings.
I have always wondered why anyone would want to swing a cat in the first place! It makes way more sense to me now!
It never fails to amaze me how distorted some of the old sayings have become. I love learning the origins of some of the weirder phrases and idioms.
Some of my favourites have nothing to do with sailing but I will share them anyhow...just because.
For example...
Did you know that the phrase “crack a smile’ originated back in Victorian (I think) times. Back then personal hygiene practices left something to be desired and people often had issues with their complexions. To combat this women would slather their faces with wax in an effort to smooth them out. If you smiled too broadly, the wax on your face would crack...hence... cracking a smile.
The same practice gave rise to two other common phrases that make no sense out of context.
If a woman stared at another woman’s face for too long she was often told to ‘mind her own beeswax’.
A woman who sat too close to a fire might notice her wax coating start to melt off... talk about embarrassing! Thus the phrase “loosing face” was born!
Anyhoooo... I could ramble on for hours but I won’t.
I will let you look for yourself!
https://www.brownielocks.com/wordorigins.html
And as promised, the source for the sailing stuff...
https://www.offshoresailing.com/sailing-trivia-for-savvy-sailors/
Toodles for now!