163 A New Tack

A New Tack

I heard a CEO talking about his company's future, he said "They were going to chart a new course, take a fresh tack. Isn't it amazing how much of the language of sailing is part of our vocabulary? 

Sounds like he was going to jettison the old ways, give the past a wide berth, maybe leave current employees high and dry (they may want to get three sheets to the wind), or maybe it was just a shot across the bow to see where investors stand. 

By and large, unless one knows the ropes, you could be all at sea about the future of the company. 

As you will see by the list of words below, the English language is chock-a-block with seafaring words. One interesting website that invites viewers to ask and answer questions about the English language and then vote on the best answers, speculated as to why sailing terms entered the language hand over fist. 

Contributors to English Language & Usage, english.stackexchange.com, thought that England as a sea-faring nation spread nautical terms around the world. Additionally, the large sailing ships were so complicated that every item had to have a precise name that every man on every ship would use in the same way. When Britain first ruled the waves, there were very few other large-scale ventures so smaller industries were not as standardized in their terminology. They likened the incorporation of sailing terms to the change in our language that wide-spread use of computers and later technologies brought about.

So here is the list. I will explain the ones that are not that obvious. Let me know of others that you think of.

A shot across the bows--a warning shot signifying the ship is willing to do battle.

Aboveboard--above the deck, out on the open deck

All at sea--out of the sight of land in the olden times of inaccurate navigational aids

Anchors aweigh

Batten down the hatches

Between the devil and the deep blue sea

Broad in the beam

By and large--On a sailing ship, by means into the wind. Large means off the wind. Sailors might say, "By and large, this ships handles nicely."

Chock-a-block--When sails are hoisted as high as possible, the two blocks in the tackle were jammed tightly together.

Clean bill of health--Officials from the port of departure gave a bill of health to the ship to present at its port of arrival. Hopefully, a clean bill of health meant the crew had not brought any communicable diseases from its originating port.

Close quarters

Copper-bottomed

Cut and run--cutting loose a ship's or boat's anchor and sailing away in a hurry

Edging forward--When a ship sails directly into the wind, it must take many small tacks at just off the wind in order to make leeway. Since the ship did so much sideward sailing, it inched forward. This would be particularly true in the tight confines of a harbor.

Feeling blue--When a ship lost its captain during a voyage, it would fly a blue flag and a blue band would be painted around the ship's hull when it returned to port.

Fathom out

Full to the gunwales'

Get underway

Give a wide berth

Go by the board

Groggy

Hand over fist--sailors had to pull the sheets (ropes) as fast as they could, one hand over the other repeatedly to trim or haul the sails.

Hard and fast

Headway--progress or rate of progress in sailing 

High and dry

In the offing--offing is the more distant part of the sea as seen from the shore

Know the ropes--New sailors had to learn the names and how to handle all the sheets, sails, and other gear on the ship.

Jury rig--to rig makeshift equipment

Keelhaul--to tie up a sailor and haul him under the bottom of a ship (the keel) and up on the other side as a punishment
Loose cannon

Mal de mer

Panic stations

Scuttlebutt--a cask for holding drinking water and, by extension, the idle talk exchanged while drinking from it--yesterday's water cooler!

Shipshape and Bristol fashion--good and seamanlike order. The origin came from when Bristol was the major west coast port of Britain at a time when all its shipping was maintained in good order.

Shiver my timbers--In heavy seas, ships would be lifted up and pounded down so hard as to shiver the timbers that made up the ship, startling the sailors.

Slush fund--On ships in the eighteenth century, slush referred to the waste fat which was left after the ship’s cook had boiled salt beef for the crew to eat. Sailors had a limited diet, so there was a fair amount of this fat, which was skimmed off and stored in barrels. In the US Navy, the fat was sold and the proceeds of this sale were called a slush fund. The money was spent in buying luxuries for the crew. The term later became used to describe a fund used to supplement the salaries of US government workers.

Taken aback--when a sudden change of wind flattens a vessel's square sails back against the masts and stops the forward motion of the ship

Tell it to the marines--beginning in the 17th century, marines were land forces who were stationed on ships of the Royal Navy. As landlubbers, they were understandably naive if not ignorant about life aboard a vessel. Sailors took advantage and concocted outlandish stories that the marines swallowed hook, line, and sinker. Accordingly, any outlandish story heard on land or sea and recognized as bilge was greeted with the full rejoinder, “You may tell that to the marines, but the sailors will not believe it,”

The bitter end--Going back to 1759, the bitter end is the part of a cable (line, rope) which is round about the bitts (the two great timbers used to belay, hold, cables) when the ship is at anchor.

Tack--to change a vessel’s direction, or the new direction 

The cut of his jib--In the 17th century, the shape of the jib sail often identified a vessel's nationality, and hence whether it was hostile or friendly.

Three sheets to the wind--When 3 sheets (sails) became unattached, the ship would lurch around like a drunken sailor.

Tide over

Walk the plank

Well, shiver me timbers, I have to stop, but there are many more. Do you have any favorites?

Trish