If you know of any other shipboard expressions, feel free to share them in the comments below! I'd be thrilled to create a Part 2 to this video sometime in the future 😊~Mike
Along the line of "Show your true colors" is a "False Flag" operation, when a war crime is committed by not showing one's true colors. Often, this was seen as a wanton act of piracy.
batten down the hatches by and large close quarters cut and run even keel figurehead give a wide berth go overboard high and dry keel over knowing/learning/showing the ropes leeway long haul loose cannon press into service squared away taken aback
Pull Your Finger Out. When a canon had to be fired, a small amount of powder was placed in the end and held in place by a sailors finger. When the order to fire came, they were ordered to pull their finger out.
My friend Mike! Thank the Patrick White books for this one..... Scuttlebut! Where the sailors got there drinnking water from in the heat of battle. A barrell with fresh water. I'll become a member if you shout me out and use this one. You have my word as a Gentleman.
Why some people refer to the toilet as 'The Head' or 'Visit the Head' ... the place where sailor would relieve themselves was typically on the bow of the ship. Where the Figurehead was, hence "Visit the Head"
God, what a day its been. No-one would cut me any slack, or give me any leeway. At times, I was between the devil and the deep blue sea. Still, now everything is squared away, and I've cleared my yardarm, with a square meal inside, I can finally moor up and enjoy your latest offering. Hopefully it's not plumbing the depths too much😊 Thanks, Mike
@@BigAmpsplicing the main brace seems to be more of a reverse engineered thing of nautical words being employed for a less organic euphemism. It was created in more modern times for the yachty crowd.
I know it's "Oceanliner Designs" but let me tell you how glad I am that you're touching onto the Age of Sail as well! I'm a traditional sailor, obviously know all my sheets and stays etc., but English isn't my first language, and so I learned some idioms today 😹
The bitter end is the end of the line that is turned around a winch. You must hang onto the bitter end so that the winch can hold onto the line when you are winching it in.
@@tonycook7679 Sorry Tony, but that is incorrect. The end one would wrap around the drum of a winch (known as a gypsy) would be the "running" or "working" end for obvious reasons. You're "running" it around the gypsy.
@@rickmorgan8856 Not quite. Every line has a specific name. The one used to raise the sail is a "Halyard". For pulling it in, the "sheet". For stretching it out, the "outhaul" or "clew" and for pulling it down, the "downhaul" or "tack". There ARE three "ropes" on a ship: the "man rope" for pulling oneself aboard, the "bellrope" attached to the clanger and the "foot ropes" on which sailors stood while furling or loosing canvas.
Hey Mike! As someone fairly new to Maritime history in general, I'd really love to see a video on the Scrapping of ships. I understand it's probably kind of a sad topic for those of you who feel special connections with these ships, but I suppose it's sort of part of the circle of life for most ships, and I'd really like to know more. For instance, when a ship is sold for scrap: -Who buys them? -Where are they taken for scrapping? -What does it really entail/how exactly do you scrap something as large as say, a four stacker ocean liner?? (Especially given that many shipyards had to create expanded areas to build ships that big in the first place.) -And maybe a pick me up for the end of the video, what gets done with the materials after a ship is scrapped? Thank you so much, have a lovely rest of your day, Cheers!
I agree with you, a ship going for scrap is a good thing, it’s what supposed to happen at the end of it’s natural life, and much better than the alternative ways of it ending it’s life (sinking, being bombed etc.). To me, a ship going for scrap is like a person dying of natural old age, rather than being in a accident or having a horrible disease. It’s why ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ by Turner is a grand painting, not a sad one.
I've looked into this before and the only thing I found is that ships from WW1 & WW2, pre-A-bomb, have been butchered on the ocean floor to use the steel in MRI machines because the iron isn't contaminated with radioactive fallout that would affect the sensitivity of the machine. Beyond that it seems that ships just sort of get arbitrarily assigned as either target practice for a navy, scuppered to create a "marine environment" (read; we couldn't be bothered to deal with this) or they hang around until a breaker makes a scrap value offer. I never looked into who was doing it though because I was more caught up with the notion that "Surely, surely it can't be cheaper to sink it than do an engine swap and sell it? SOMEONE in the world must want to buy a big boat." If I were a billionaire and could buy a party yacht or convert an old oil tanker into the Independent Citadel of Partystan I know which one I would choose.
He's much better than that other UA-cam dork who handles his Titanic foolishly--it's actually very fragile--one day he'll drop it is what will happen (but no one will die because no one is ever on it).
I sailed a small boat at a yacht club in Cleveland, Ohio, and this video brought back some funny memories! I can't begin to tell you how many times we had greenhorns aboard who had no idea what we were talking about. Tack, jibe, sheets. Etc were totally foreign to them. They looked like deer in the headlights. It was very amusing......but not when trying to win a race!! Fabulous video, Mike!
Or like the skipper who took out some newbies. The sail boat got caught by a strong gust so he yelled "dump dump" . They gave him a terrified look and proceeded to jump over the side.
Very good .Didnt know many of these .But a few others are (which i know you will be doing). Loose cannon/copper bottomed/ even keel/square meal/first-second etc rate.
Never heard "copper bottomed" used to describe anything other than the literal, a copper sheathed hull intended to protect the wood from the Toredo worms which attack it like termites.
I did a few years in the Med--which was a blast in general, but only once was a "man overboard." Although you could pull it off if you had nothing better to do, falling off ship into the drink doesn't happen every day or I would have known it (it has recently happened on a cruise liner, though, but those people are probably civilians with alcohol); but as could be expected, there were some annoying people on ship--one of the worst--and probably the worst--was this sailor on the USS La Moure County when we went to Desert Storm; he was famous ship-wide--for being annoying (it was also an LST, which is rather small when it comes to ships). That, however, was new; although you might be popular for all the wrong reasons with your Navy buddies, if you were an especially annoying jarhead, the U.S. Navy would probably not be aware of that; there is a deal of separation between the two services, believe it or not--when we went to the field, for example, I learned that the Navy was thrilled to death that we were gone (I once got some ship-duty getting me out of a field-op so is how I learned that; at the same time, a good game of spades got the two services on the same page--you would not, however, just walk into someone else's berthing of either branch--you get the idea--while it would appear that we all worked together, we often actually didn't. The Navy is chill per uniforms, haircuts, physical fitness and overall lifestyles--the USMC, not so much--the Navy isn't really the military--the USMC is all about action, cleanliness, order and doing things--it's why we wasted so much time on ship while the Navy worked so had real jobs). Anyway, we were in port in the UAE after Desert Storm was over--which took about five minutes. They announced "Man overboard!" I had never heard that before and never thought I would hear it. Then they said who it was--no one was surprised as to who it was--it was that idiot I worked with in the ship's barber shop who everyone knew--he was so annoying I finally chased him out of the barber shop and up the ladder-well--I had some rank on me, by then, so could get away with that--it was "legal" for me to go after underlings. I was physically, mentally and emotionally sick of "Poison" by Bell Biv Devoe--he played that constantly in the ship's barber shop on this boom-box--it was the first and last thing I heard night after night--as loud as it could go (I worked in there with him). It was impossible to get away--every time he played it was like it was new; if I asked who that was on social media I'm sure I'd get an answer (K 3/2 had a 9 year Lance Corporal--the entire battalion naturally knew him--he was, however, not annoying--being bad in the USMC is actually a sign of coolness--he remains the shit to this day so remains popular on social media, too; he is actually an admin. for FB's K 3/2 Page--so remains a leader, with some serious time-in-grade). They also had to quarantine that fool who somehow fell of the gangway--if he was drunk they would have hammered him, I recall that happening during working hours so he was probably sober--he might have actually been working and fell--the Navy clearly had all kinds of shitty duty a hundred times worse than going to the field--whatever happened was a natural occurrence of his personality though, I'm sure--it could have only happened to him. I probably do not have to expand on the nasty water surrounding ships in port--you don't want to be in it, believe me--just ask all the dead fish.
As a young man I was a deckhand for many years aboard the Tall-ship.. ..Argus.. a chartere-square-rigger used for education and seamanship purposes ..out of Newport Beach, Ca. How much I loved being underway with sails dropped ..being high up in the rigging… my favorite was the crows-nest on high seas… what a ride…. Hahahahaha..! What memories you brought back. James Crimi
When we were in some port I can't remember the specifics of anymore (I think it was Monaco, but no longer remember) there was this fifty-something English guy who wanted to join the Navy--in his mind, the old days were still with us--the days where you realized you had no money, had drunk everything you had--you had no friends but there was a ship so there was work. You can't do that anymore but he didn't think so--he wanted to come with us. I think we were waiting for some Higgins-type boat to pick us up and take us back to ship; if we couldn't port, we'd be anchored out on the water--they sometimes had liberty boats taking us to town and back. Other times, ship would be in port so we would get on and off that way; other times the United States was so big and bad we anchored not far from shore. He was like "I want to join you mates. I'm good and could work" (now I'm the fifty-something weirdo no one wants, who can't get in despite opportunities all around with drunk youngsters who know nothing of the world hooting and hollering and laughing at me--soon to pass-out safe in their racks).
I have no idea why this video isn't as popular as your titanic stuff. This is some of your best work. I know it isn't as scholarly or in depth, but it's well researched and presented.
Another fun fact is you can loose all your fingers and possibly a hand via ropes wrapped around posts in port; when you wrap those ropes, you have to be careful, making sure your fingers or hand don't get underneath or caught in the rope--the ship is going to move, stretching the rope possibly to capacity--if your hand or fingers are in there, the ship, water, port and your buddies won't care, and if they did, it'd be too late (look what happened to that guy who tried catching the feral kid's boomerang in Mad Max 2--if people are like that on land, it's worse when you're aboard).
Another one is "taken aback", which has been mentioned a few times in the comments without mention of its origin. It originally referred to getting your ship nearly straight into the wind, such that your sails get filled from the wrong side and are suddenly plastered against the masts, bringing your vessel to a sudden and ignominious halt.
"Learning the ropes" - as you mentioned, sailing ships were a mass of ropes - and when the crew was "turned-out" of their hammocks to deal with a sudden squall, one that could dismast the ship and leave them stranded at sea, drifting into the doldrums and running out of water ("horse latitudes", from areas of windless sea being carpeted with the floating corpses of horses enroute to markets in America from old-world breeders, but the wind had deserted the ship to where fresh water was running short and the crew would toss the horses overboard so what little water was left, went to them), it was absolutely vital that every crewmember rushes to the correct rope and hauls-on that one (not the one beside it), the correct amount and in the correct direction. So every new sailor, in the process of learning to "hand, reef and steer", had to learn all the ropes on a ship; where they were and what they did. And of course they'd have to "belay" their "skylarking" and pay attention to their lessons, which took about a year - but if they did a good job of it, they might be told to "splice the mainbrace"!
Jury rig, 1600’s term meaning a temporary repair to a mast or rigging. I was helping out at a day care in Chicago. Their door wouldn’t close correctly. I asked if they wanted me to jury rig something so the door would close. I was told I couldn’t say that cause that phrase was racist. I’m glad to see you are showing the true origins of phrases. Thank you.
The phrase, "show a leg" is also naval in origin. In the Navy, sailors were rarely allowed ashore. So when they reached port, the ladies of negotiable affection came aboard. When it came time to sail, the cry would be "show a leg" to see if hammocks were occupied by hairy sailors or not hairy ladies! I think someone else has mentioned the brass monkey phrase, caused by the different expansion rates of brass and iron, but, being "taken aback" is another. The UKs flag is commonly known as the "Union Jack" technically, that's only correct when it's flown from the jack stay, which is part of a ships' rigging. I think it's great that our rich maritime heritage is still reflected in the English language. Thanks for sharing a fascinating video!
@@peterdurnien9084Only certain women were allowed to sail on Navy ships. Usually the wife of the carpenter or bosun. Generally, they were only allowed aboard whilst in port, for "morale" purposes. The call "show a leg" came to make sure there were no women still aboard when leaving harbour.
@vibratingstringThe brass monkeys were the racks used to store cannonballs on deck. They were made of brass, the balls were iron. In very cold weather, the two metals contract at different rates meaning the balls would fall off!
@@peterdurnien9084 In addition to an above comment, the wives of all the permanent crew of the ship were allowed aboard, not just the Bosun and carpenter. Usually after each voyage the majority of the crew, including the officers were 'paid off', including the Captain, usually to go onto other ships. The permanent crew were the bosun, carpenter, gunner, master, sailmaker, and depending on time period the purser and one or two of the other senior what we would call NCO's these days, specifically they were the Warrant Officers. They were the only members of the crew permanently assigned to the ship in question. If a ship was placed into ordinary (put into reserve) it was the permanent crew who would stay with her to maintain her. It was not unusual for these NCO's to stay with the same ship they were awarded their warrant for for the rest of their careers. In addition a few other women were allowed aboard, though it was rarely done, generally the wives or/and daughters of the senior officers of the crew, generally the Captain and occasionally the 1st officer. Should a ship have to beat to quarters the women were generally employed on the Orlop Deck with the surgeon Partly because it was good for morale, partly because it was one of the safest places on a ship in the event of battle. I mean, its literally one of the reasons the Surgeon was stationed there....
Refering to flags as colors, is not antiquated. At least the Canadian Military still refer to the group carrying the flags in a parade as a color party. When they call for the color party, they call March on the colors.
When I hear "Canada", "parade" and "color party" I'd think of something different.. though I wouldn't be surprised in the least if the Canadian military does fly the rainbow flag. The Americans do.
If you watch Star Trek TOS or especially Wrath of khan, the nautical feel and terminology is so obvious you can't miss it. And it's great. The expression 'Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic' doesn't need any explanation :D
He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him round the moons of Nebia, round the Antares maelstrom, round Perdition's Flame before I give him up!
Fun video 🙂 Pretty please, can we have a video on the ocean liners engineered by Isambard Brunel? Surely the SS Great Western and SS Great Britain with their sails and steam, of course along with the story of the mighty SS Great Eastern would make for a marvelous video by our friend from Oceanliner Designs - @MikeBrady 😉 Much love from Toowoomba Queensland.
Here's another one for you. I'm retired now, but when I was a long distance truck driver and my dispatcher would give me a time critical rush load that absolutely needed to be delivered on time, he'd often tell me to "Put her in the wind!".
As a historian and linguist, I have always been fascinated by the origin of words and phrases. As such, I thoroughly enjoyed your delightful presentation -- which I watched to the, by no means "bitter" end, the one expression whose origin was new to me. Thanks for yet another informative and delightful video.
'Between the Devil & The deep blue sea' (to have two equally bad options) The Devil was actually the centre plank of the deck (so called as it was 'a devil' to lay during shipbuilding), I've hears it said that it's a reference to laying the deck - do you start from the scuppers and work inward, until you reach the centre? - meaning you only have to shape 'the devil' (hence it's name) or do you lay 'the devil' first and work outwards (meaning you've two sets of planks to shape). 'Not enough room to swing a cat', (A Cramped area), Not enough room to swing the 'cat o' nine tails on a hapless crewmate. 'To let the cat out of the bag' - (To reveal a secret) If you saw the bosun taking the cat o' nine tails out of the bag you knew some crewmember was due to be lashed. 'To turn a blind eye', (to ignore something) From Nelson, when ordered not to engage French ships if seen, when told by a crewmember French ships had been sighted, he held his spyglass to his blind eye and said "Ships? I see no ships!" 'Tapping the Admiral', (To sneak a sly drink) Legend has it that following his death at Trafalgar, it was realized Nelson would be a national hero and his remains were to be preserved for a state funeral. So His remains were loaded into a cask of brandy (this caused outrage, as the public believed rum was more appropriate)to preserve them. However, according to the legend, Nelson nearly suffered the fate of many of Darwin's samples at the hands of parched sailors... When the Cask was opened to retrieve Nelson's remains, the cask held substantially less alcohol than it did when he was interred within!. (In reality, the cask was lashed to the mainmast and put under armed guard). 'Groggy', (to be disorientated) On the subject of Rum, Rum and beer were rationed to the Royal Navy into the 1970's, but originally it was added to water to sterilize water that may have been in casks for months. This was know as 'Grog' - if you drank too much you got 'Groggy'. 'Pressganged', (When you've been 'persuaded' to enter into an endeavor) From the notorious pressgangs that roamed the bars of ports 'recruiting' unemployed fishermen or sailors. 'Up to the gunwhales' (Pronounced 'Gunnels' - when you're so busy you're almost overwhelmed.) The Gunwhales are the very top of the guardrail on a ship, if the water is up to that, then you're out of options and even the most efficient pump in the world (A scared sailor with a bucket) ain't going to save you. Not quite in the vein but as the Royal Marines are Royal Navy - 'Go tell the Marines' because Marines were so well travelled, if someone told an unbelievable tale, if it was believed by a Marine then there must be some truth in it. Again with the Marines "Bootnecks" (UK) and "Leathernecks" (US) At one time the Royal Marines had a leather collar on their tunic, and got them the nickname, this was later adopted by the USMC. The Marines were quartered between the officers and men to prevent mutiny and the collar was said to be to prevent them getting their throats cut as they slept. 'Up the creek' (To be in a dire situation) The Creek refers to Haslar lake and Gosportcreek, just outside Portsmouth. Wounded sailors would be taled to the Royal Navy Hospital Haslar on a spit of land guarded on the landward side by Marines. Back in the Napoleonic period, hospital hygiene left a lot to be desired and communicable diseases spread rapidly through the wards. So many saw going to Haslar as a death sentence. 'A square meal' (A decent meal) back to the pressgangs I'm afraid, not all those 'pressganged' were involuntary. Some were hard up cases, and joined to get a guaranteed meal three times a day (Which in Napoleon's Navy was 6000 calories per day). Which were served on a square plate.
I'm sorry but you are wrong about the "devil and the deep blue sea". The devil refers to the seam between OUTERMOST plank in the ship's deck and the hull planking, not the central one, and it means the only thing between the sailor and sea is the thickness of the hull. The innermost, or middle plank was called the "Kingplank", just as the central spoke in the ships wheel was the "Kingspoke".
I am always amazed about how complicated it was to work the sails. The number of lines used on those large sailing ship boggles the mind. The thought of having climb up to the sails in heavy weather is beyond belief. I am 82, and only recently discovered you channel. I find it very informative, educational and a pleasure to watch.
What got me into the Titanic was "101 Things You Thought You Knew about the Titanic...but Didn't!" I thought it would be a boring, fact-list I'd never really read--there's a lot of books that fail to hook me--I saw "the movie" and obviously heard about the Titanic before, but I flew through it in a few days, which also lead me to this channel (the engineering aspects of ships like that explained here are probably lost on most people like they were with me--it's amazing something that big was built like that back then--even more amazing is how fast it all went down).
Love this! Clean slate is one that is attributed to so many origins. I learned it from the Latin tabula rasa (literally a clean wax tablet), but the internet also says it's from wiping a white board clean in school. I'd never heard the nautical origin story before!
"Godspeed" "Cold enough to freeze the ball off of a brass monkey" or "Ship-shape and Bristol Fashon" are my favourites, I use them regularly. Have you ever done a video on the movie Masrer and Commander (2003) and the Patrick O'Brien novels? There is a wealth of facinating details in both and many books have been written about them and the Great Age Of Sail. My favourite is Lobscouse And Spotted Dog about cooking abord ship in that era.
I've heard POSH accommodation....is an acronym for Port Out Starboard Home. Prime cabins for long, shipboard, travel in 19th and 20th centuries..... Does it "answer" or "signify?"
A surprising amount of saying we use come from the military as well. "Balls to the wall" for example; though not a sailing term, originated from early fighters. Their throttles had ball shaped handles, and putting balls to the wall referred to going to full speed, which put the balls toward the front wall of the cockpit.
It's difficult to remain aloof, amid the flotsam and jetsam of lubbery life when a new Oceanliner Design episode comes to the fore. I'll just cut and run now...
Flotsam is stuff from a ship floating in the ocean accidentally. Jetsam is stuff deliberately thrown overboard. Cut and run refers to fleeing an attack by cutting one's anchor rode instead of taking the time to haul it in.
Great video, it can be amazing to realize how many terms we use come from the age of sail and seafaring in general. Considering how much of civilization developed along waterways and oceans maybe it shouldn’t be as amazing. Weirdly while not a nautical term the other day I ran across the term tinder box used in a sci-fi book. The use of tinder boxes was replaced with matches by the mid-1800’s yet almost 2 centuries later the term meaning of course something containing easily set alight items is still in use and understood by many.
Great video 😀 Not sure about the clean slate one, since slates (basically hand-sized black boards) were historically employed as simple writing utensils for taking temporary notes in any number of professions and even in staple in schools. Writing slates were first referenced in writing in the 14th century but similar objects have been found with currency and other artifacts dating back to at least the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (~5th century). So there's a decent chance our concept of English might be younger than the idiom 😶
Two hundred years ago nautical terms were in common enough use that authors could assume that their readers would know the meanings: e.g. Richard Henry Dana's wonderful Two Years before the Mast, in which nothing is explained. A couple of centuries later, Patrick O'Brian had had to invent the landlubber Doctor Maturin to have an excuse for explanations.
This was neat! One minor nitpick--"clean slate" in English could also be tied to the Latin phrase "tabula rasa," which essentially means the same thing ("blank tablet") but refers to the beeswax tabulae folx used for quick notes. It's neat it has a specific meaning in sailing history, but I don't think it's quite a "sailing expression" per se.
It's a theory that "Cup of Joe" comes from the Secretary of the Navy in 1913 as he banned alcohol onboard. Coffee took place of the rum and so the sailor's would have a cup of "joe" in honor of the man who took their drink away!
Good one Mike, but why record your interesting info with a bl%dy ice cream van ringing out its jingles in the vicinity ? Drove me mad !!! Too overpowering.
Another one: 'Nipper'. It's not unusual to call a child by the affectionate term 'a nipper'. In days of old of wooden ships and iron men, the anchor was hauled in by men turning a windlass. This involved an endless loop of cable around two windlass' to which the anchor cable itself was attached with short lengths of cord called 'nips'. These were tied on by ships boys who would then run along with it before releasing the nip and allowing the anchor cable to coil down into the cable locker. The boys who did this were called 'nippers'.
In the Royal Yacht Squadron £100 Cup Race around the Isle of Wright in 1851, where the Yacht America from the New York Yacht Club won the race. They had modified it when she got to England. Her jib on the bow sprit was extended. During the race, she was fairly slow compared to her voyage form New York. At one point, she went bow down into a wave. When she came up, her extention had been "carried away", from that point on. America picked up speed and won the race.
My understanding of America's victory was based on it switching to light cotton sails for the race after crossing the Atlantic using heavy flax, sea-going sails.
I went to the Dolly Shop and everything was Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion including the woman serving who was Round at the Counter and Bluff at the Bow. Shiver me timbers! On a different note, I am sure you have heard of Culvert's rules for avoiding collision at sea; but I can't find any reference out there in web land. I copied mine from Reeds Nautical Almanac (now theres a book and a half)
@vibratingstring The Bristol referred to is the second largest port in England. Nathaniel Herreshoff was from Bristol, Rhode Island and has nothing to do with the expression, "Bristol Fashion".
Here in America, we almost said "Ahoy" when answering a phone thanks to the inventor Alexander Graham Bell wanting to make that the standard way to answer a phone , thankfully, Thomas Edison suggested "Hello" instead, and we went with that.
Mike, What a great episode! I’m a sailor on the Chesapeake Bay (see my UA-cam channel) and it was amusing to hear the sailing origins of some common words and phrases. But when sailing, even today, we still use many of those same words and phrases. Fair winds and following seas!
There is a word in Danish that in the Viking Age meant hole, but today has a completely different meaning, but still related to the original meaning of the word. The word is "Røv" (roev) which means hole. The hole that is alluded to is on a Viking ship where you put a stick so that you could lash the lap to the sail. The word "Røv" in everyday Danish means ass and you also say it in conjunction with hole, ass-hole, so you say hole hole.
There's another sailing word for hole in English slang which refers to a slit shaped incision as found in a rope eye or buttonhole. In recent times it has been reduced to "cut". As in a "cu*t splice".
To haul on those sheets (ropes controlling sails) and lifting spars or whalers or gigs (small boats) a block and tackle was often used. Most commonly a "handy billie" or three to one mechanical advantage. For really heavy jobs, four, five or even six to one advantage tackle could be used. Of course, once 'reaved', the tackle had an obvious distance limit - the distance between the two blocks. Once the tackle had been hauled up so the point where the two blocks were touching, the tackle was "chocker block" or, just 'chocker.' So the expression morphed into every day speech and someone who is fed up or frustrated with some situation (or person!) they were said to be 'really chocker with......'
A "handy Billy" is just a multi-purpose block and tackle which can be used as a force multiplier when required and consisted of a single block and beckett and double block, which increase the mechanical advantage by a factor of four. Lifting large items such as "whalers" was done with either dedicated davits and tackles or one of the mainsheet tackles on a boom swung over the side.
Hi Mike, I actually love the origins of sayings, and your video has come up with some great examples. Love the diversity of your videos, keep em coming. Always look forward to your next iteration.
Vlog... blog... log (as in journal or register).. from the record of a ship's speed taken by throwing a wooden log off the bow, tied to a knotted rope. Timing the number of knots displayed gave the speed, which was written into the log.
"Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". Correct me if Im wrong, but my understanding is that the Monkey was a metal plate with divets in the top in a grid pattern, 4x4 equalling 16 divets etc, that you sat cannon balls onto in a pyramid shape to stop them rolling around. The balls were made of iron, so brass was used as the plate so that they wouldnt rust together. But when there was a rapid drop in temperature, the brass would contract faster than the iron, which in turn would cause the pyramid to topple. Hence the term.
My favourite: if you tack into the wind poorly, you can be caught with the vessel pointing directly into the wind and the sails catching the wind pushing the ship backwards. When this happens you are said to be ‘taken aback.”
Three sheets to the wind does NOT mean letting the sheets all run loose. It means securing them on the wrong side of the vessel. The sails had a sheet on both sides, and in normal sailing the leeward (downwind) sheet was secured to the vessel. But if you had three sails with their windward sheet secured instead, the ship wouldn’t sail. It would just heel over and lurch about. You don’t normally sheet sails “to the wind” except in a maneuver called heaving-to, which is a way to stop the vessel with the sails up. So, three sheets to the wind means all the sails are sheeted on the wrong side - everything is cockeyed and wrong.
I believe "taken aback" referred to when the wind got on the wrong side of the sails due to the helmsman not watching his course or the wind suddenly shifting direction.
I grew up on a yacht. To this day even if I was just crossing the road or walking through a supermarket & heard a male voice yell "Belay that!", I would instantly freeze & await further instructions/admonishment from my father. Not doing so as a kid could mean the difference between life death on the boat. Also, one of the other things about sailing words & phrases is they were designed to convey very clear, precise meanings & be understood while being shouted in really bad noisy conditions - one of the reasons so many terms are the same across nationalities.
Perhaps next time talk about the linguistic history of more technical terms. I.e. original language, what the people of said culture have to do with how it got into modern(ish) English, etc. Makes for an interesting way to look at it (and of course, for the amusement has pirates & vikings amongst other bonuses).
Ropes? That term was a sin that would unleash a flow of ridicule heavily laced with sailor profanity. We had sheets and lines, but no ropes on a sailing ship.
I am pleased to see the main stay mentioned as well as pictures of the steel ship Balclutha. Also some of the later ships had iron and steel masts. Even they could break in a dismasting, as in the case of the iron ship Wavertree. TM retired but still follows sailing ships.
Mike, I would imagine that the ladies like the cut of your jib! Not a particularly common phrase today, I admit, and you also don't hear people say, "Give him the heave-ho" anymore, or even, "You'd better give him a wide berth." If I'm not mistaken, the phrases "turn in" (meaning to go to sleep) and "turn out" have their origin with sailors getting in and out of cramped bunks. You mentioned "touch and go," "toe the line" and "aboveboard" in the intro but you never gave their origins. Put them in Part Two?
It would be good to have a channel in French. I know I'm writing this comment in English but I'm using Google Translate because I don't speak English. And I only understand 5 or 10% of what is explained, I only rely on the images. I love this channel and it would be nice to think of us too. Or wait for UA-cam to roll out automatic dubbing...
The bitter end refers to the end of the anchor cable (chain) that is down in the cable locker and is securely fastened to the ship. It never gets paid out but does get soaked in sea water the ingresses through the hawse pipe making it 'bitter' or salty and amongst other things filthy. Or at least that's my understanding from nearly 2 decades in the Andrew.
The expression "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" sounds ridiculous, but it has a maritime origin. In the days of tallships and canons, canon balls were stacked in pyramids next to the canon. They were stacked on a brass plate not unlike an egg carton called a monkey, the monkey being made of brass. When the temperature got cold enough, the brass monkey, having a different thermal coefficient than the wrought iron cannon balls, would shrink faster than the balls causing the balls to dislodge and spill. Hence the saying "Cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey.".
I've always heard "Change track" instead of "Change tack". Both make sense, just one is nautical and the other is railroad. But the implication is the same.
'Nipper', 'Ship-Shape and Bristol Fashion', 'Knock Seven Bells (out of him)', 'Learn the Ropes', 'Cold Enough To Freeze the Balls Off A Brass Monkey', 'Grog' (as in 'Groggy'), 'POSH', 'Veer Around', '(See it at) Close Quarters', 'Give a Wide Berth', 'On-Board (with it)', 'In The Doldrums', 'Caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea', 'High and Dry', 'A Long Shot', 'Sailing Close to the Wind', 'Loose Cannon', 'Son of a Gun, 'Scraping the Barrel', 'Choc-a-Block', 'Scuttlebutt', 'As the Crow Flies', 'Feeling Blue', 'Mate', (any)'Leeway' (on that price?) etc etc. Took me 30 minutes to think of those, there must be scores more expressions I could name (not really), but that would be 'Letting the Cat Out Of the Bag'......
When I joined the Suck (common derogatory parlance for the USMC--and you don't join--they tolerate you and you tolerate them--at some point there's an agreement and expectation that you'll one day be up to speed--it's too late to send you back--that's how you get in) but one of the things we were expected to say in boot camp was "Aye, aye, Sir!" Which I thought was really cool--that came straight from naval tradition somewhere that much I knew, it was possibly hundreds of years old but still used--at that age I knew nothing, but "Aye, aye" was like being in the Navy--I felt grounded in coolness whenever I said it--which was a lot. It was like I was in the Old Navy where they let you have a white beard at high seas and grave danger--I heard "Aye, aye" on Gilligan's Island and Blackbeard's people might have also used the response--now I was living both worlds--I was "Gilligan," the Drill Instructors were "Blackbeard."
How many ropes on a sailing ship,?..none. There are stays, sheets, halyards, you name it , but never ropes. How long is a rope? 120 fathoms, (710' or 219 m). All of the above are cut from rope & named according to the use to which they are put. Generally a 3 strand "hawser lain" right hand twist, but genarally larger diameter hawser lay might be 4 strand shroud lain left hand twist. Below 5/16" the term cordage shall apply. The B|ritish Fire Brigades were founded along RN lines & share many Naval traditions, hence the watch system. "Standby to slip!"
"It is cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey" comes from the practice of putting iron cannon balls on a dimpled brass plate on the deck of a war-ship. When very cold the brass contracted sufficiently to cause the iron balls to fall out.
being under the weather is probably another term for being sick with an unknown ailment it would mean isolation below ships AKA below the waterline (again AKA!) below any weather!
“Stay” on a sailing ship is fore and aft line that braces the mast and jib. Speaking of jib “likes the cut of your jib” is another idiom. The Devil to pay Hold on to the bitter end “Down East” for New Englanders Mind your “Ps and Qs” Scuttlebutt “Yarns” meaning stories Cat got your tongue 20 years in the Navy.
I can’t believe he left out “by and large”. Sailing “by” the wind means close-hauled. Sailing “large” means with wind behind you. Thus, “By & Large” means in general, or overall.
Nice job! Was completely familiar with all the expressions except “At Loggerheads.” But than, as a retired Professional Mariner who’s also a history buff, that’s to be expected. Aspects of the business changed rapidly, including the switch to Electronic Navigation, occurring early in my career. Prior to Satellite Navigation, we depended on our celestial navigation skills using with the sextant to safely navigate he world. Nor were there any computers on board my first ships, many of which were built in and around WW2. In fact the first basic hand held calculators were just popping up in the early 70’s. The changes came quickly.
clean slates , 3 sheets to the wind, logheads ... soy español y esto me sirve a la vez como una lección de filología inglesa y como una lección de narrativa nautica . 👍🏻
@@nickmiller76 yes is true, in spanish table is "mesa", back not the only sailors , in land too , all the tables is say " mesa" (i hope that my explication was being useful ... and Sorry my English, it's very poor )
Three sheets to the wind. (First, a sailboat that can hoist 3 sails, this works best on a "Marconi" rig, with either a foremast, or a mizzen.) OK, on a Ketch, just about my favourite design, you need a jib, main, and a mizzen sail. 3 sheets to the wind, not quite there, but give me an hour or 2. Oh, Cherry Coke, with spiced Rum, of my own make. (100 proof.) steve
If you know of any other shipboard expressions, feel free to share them in the comments below! I'd be thrilled to create a Part 2 to this video sometime in the future 😊~Mike
Along the line of "Show your true colors" is a "False Flag" operation, when a war crime is committed by not showing one's true colors. Often, this was seen as a wanton act of piracy.
batten down the hatches
by and large
close quarters
cut and run
even keel
figurehead
give a wide berth
go overboard
high and dry
keel over
knowing/learning/showing the ropes
leeway
long haul
loose cannon
press into service
squared away
taken aback
Pull Your Finger Out. When a canon had to be fired, a small amount of powder was placed in the end and held in place by a sailors finger. When the order to fire came, they were ordered to pull their finger out.
My friend Mike! Thank the Patrick White books for this one..... Scuttlebut! Where the sailors got there drinnking water from in the heat of battle. A barrell with fresh water. I'll become a member if you shout me out and use this one. You have my word as a Gentleman.
Why some people refer to the toilet as 'The Head' or 'Visit the Head' ... the place where sailor would relieve themselves was typically on the bow of the ship. Where the Figurehead was,
hence "Visit the Head"
God, what a day its been. No-one would cut me any slack, or give me any leeway. At times, I was between the devil and the deep blue sea. Still, now everything is squared away, and I've cleared my yardarm, with a square meal inside, I can finally moor up and enjoy your latest offering. Hopefully it's not plumbing the depths too much😊
Thanks, Mike
Yer Now Inside, Warm,
But Flibbideegibbit!
Your A Mad Punster,
So Now, I Cast...
🐸**Poof** ! 🐸
Next time if the going gets heavy you can heave to for a while, until things ease up. You could possibly splice the main brace whilst waiting.
Delightful use of some more idioms based on nautical expressions. I hope Mike will do another video based on the ones you've so creatively employed.
@@BigAmpsplicing the main brace seems to be more of a reverse engineered thing of nautical words being employed for a less organic euphemism. It was created in more modern times for the yachty crowd.
Hopefully it's not so cold as to free the balls off of a brass monkey.
I know it's "Oceanliner Designs" but let me tell you how glad I am that you're touching onto the Age of Sail as well! I'm a traditional sailor, obviously know all my sheets and stays etc., but English isn't my first language, and so I learned some idioms today 😹
This is his worst example. He doesn't fuck up facts this badly, when facts are there to be had. Stay with him, because the rest good times.
Didn't that have Oceanliners in the age of said too? (Small ones I mean) Or did they not really exist until the age of steam ships burning coal?
What are you speaking of ? As a long time sailor and amateur student of maritime history, I found no errors in this presentation.@@JavaBum
Hopefully remaining a... MAIN STAY.😎
This is why hes our Friend Mike Brady
I like big sterns and I can not lie, you other mateys can't deny!
I like funnels way too much. 🚢
Oh Sally, she's a pretty little craft,
Hot shot to the fore and a rounded aft!
Are buxom women ever described nowadays as being "Dutch built" I wonder?
Captain Rhum?
I want you to read me books.
loo yes
Me too
US Navy sailor here! Can confirm we still refer to the end of a rope or anchor chain as the “bitter end”
I always called it the "Untimely Doom". Pizzed off the Chief Boats, but I was a Pit Snipe doing linehandling during refueling.
The bitter end is the end of the line that is turned around a winch. You must hang onto the bitter end so that the winch can hold onto the line when you are winching it in.
line, not rope on a ship
@@tonycook7679 Sorry Tony, but that is incorrect. The end one would wrap around the drum of a winch (known as a gypsy) would be the "running" or "working" end for obvious reasons. You're "running" it around the gypsy.
@@rickmorgan8856 Not quite. Every line has a specific name. The one used to raise the sail is a "Halyard". For pulling it in, the "sheet". For stretching it out, the "outhaul" or "clew" and for pulling it down, the "downhaul" or "tack". There ARE three "ropes" on a ship: the "man rope" for pulling oneself aboard, the "bellrope" attached to the clanger and the "foot ropes" on which sailors stood while furling or loosing canvas.
Hey Mike!
As someone fairly new to Maritime history in general, I'd really love to see a video on the Scrapping of ships.
I understand it's probably kind of a sad topic for those of you who feel special connections with these ships, but I suppose it's sort of part of the circle of life for most ships, and I'd really like to know more.
For instance, when a ship is sold for scrap:
-Who buys them?
-Where are they taken for scrapping?
-What does it really entail/how exactly do you scrap something as large as say, a four stacker ocean liner?? (Especially given that many shipyards had to create expanded areas to build ships that big in the first place.)
-And maybe a pick me up for the end of the video, what gets done with the materials after a ship is scrapped?
Thank you so much, have a lovely rest of your day,
Cheers!
I'll look into it! Thanks for the suggestion :)
Quite a few end up in India (Alang Ship Breaking Yard) and Bangladesh (Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard)
I've always wondered this myself, just never pursued any answers
I agree with you, a ship going for scrap is a good thing, it’s what supposed to happen at the end of it’s natural life, and much better than the alternative ways of it ending it’s life (sinking, being bombed etc.). To me, a ship going for scrap is like a person dying of natural old age, rather than being in a accident or having a horrible disease. It’s why ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ by Turner is a grand painting, not a sad one.
I've looked into this before and the only thing I found is that ships from WW1 & WW2, pre-A-bomb, have been butchered on the ocean floor to use the steel in MRI machines because the iron isn't contaminated with radioactive fallout that would affect the sensitivity of the machine.
Beyond that it seems that ships just sort of get arbitrarily assigned as either target practice for a navy, scuppered to create a "marine environment" (read; we couldn't be bothered to deal with this) or they hang around until a breaker makes a scrap value offer.
I never looked into who was doing it though because I was more caught up with the notion that "Surely, surely it can't be cheaper to sink it than do an engine swap and sell it? SOMEONE in the world must want to buy a big boat." If I were a billionaire and could buy a party yacht or convert an old oil tanker into the Independent Citadel of Partystan I know which one I would choose.
But why is the rum gone?
Mike Brady is a dashing rogue
He's much better than that other UA-cam dork who handles his Titanic foolishly--it's actually very fragile--one day he'll drop it is what will happen (but no one will die because no one is ever on it).
I sailed a small boat at a yacht club in Cleveland, Ohio, and this video brought back some funny memories! I can't begin to tell you how many times we had greenhorns aboard who had no idea what we were talking about. Tack, jibe, sheets. Etc were totally foreign to them. They looked like deer in the headlights. It was very amusing......but not when trying to win a race!! Fabulous video, Mike!
Raise the top sheet and spanker.
Or like the skipper who took out some newbies. The sail boat got caught by a strong gust so he yelled "dump dump" . They gave him a terrified look and proceeded to jump over the side.
@@williamwalsh1399 I was afraid you were about to say they defecated on deck.
Smug and pretentious, those apply
Very good .Didnt know many of these .But a few others are (which i know you will be doing).
Loose cannon/copper bottomed/ even keel/square meal/first-second etc rate.
Never heard "copper bottomed" used to describe anything other than the literal, a copper sheathed hull intended to protect the wood from the Toredo worms which attack it like termites.
Thanks for showing us the ropes!
I did a few years in the Med--which was a blast in general, but only once was a "man overboard." Although you could pull it off if you had nothing better to do, falling off ship into the drink doesn't happen every day or I would have known it (it has recently happened on a cruise liner, though, but those people are probably civilians with alcohol); but as could be expected, there were some annoying people on ship--one of the worst--and probably the worst--was this sailor on the USS La Moure County when we went to Desert Storm; he was famous ship-wide--for being annoying (it was also an LST, which is rather small when it comes to ships). That, however, was new; although you might be popular for all the wrong reasons with your Navy buddies, if you were an especially annoying jarhead, the U.S. Navy would probably not be aware of that; there is a deal of separation between the two services, believe it or not--when we went to the field, for example, I learned that the Navy was thrilled to death that we were gone (I once got some ship-duty getting me out of a field-op so is how I learned that; at the same time, a good game of spades got the two services on the same page--you would not, however, just walk into someone else's berthing of either branch--you get the idea--while it would appear that we all worked together, we often actually didn't. The Navy is chill per uniforms, haircuts, physical fitness and overall lifestyles--the USMC, not so much--the Navy isn't really the military--the USMC is all about action, cleanliness, order and doing things--it's why we wasted so much time on ship while the Navy worked so had real jobs).
Anyway, we were in port in the UAE after Desert Storm was over--which took about five minutes. They announced "Man overboard!" I had never heard that before and never thought I would hear it. Then they said who it was--no one was surprised as to who it was--it was that idiot I worked with in the ship's barber shop who everyone knew--he was so annoying I finally chased him out of the barber shop and up the ladder-well--I had some rank on me, by then, so could get away with that--it was "legal" for me to go after underlings. I was physically, mentally and emotionally sick of "Poison" by Bell Biv Devoe--he played that constantly in the ship's barber shop on this boom-box--it was the first and last thing I heard night after night--as loud as it could go (I worked in there with him). It was impossible to get away--every time he played it was like it was new; if I asked who that was on social media I'm sure I'd get an answer (K 3/2 had a 9 year Lance Corporal--the entire battalion naturally knew him--he was, however, not annoying--being bad in the USMC is actually a sign of coolness--he remains the shit to this day so remains popular on social media, too; he is actually an admin. for FB's K 3/2 Page--so remains a leader, with some serious time-in-grade). They also had to quarantine that fool who somehow fell of the gangway--if he was drunk they would have hammered him, I recall that happening during working hours so he was probably sober--he might have actually been working and fell--the Navy clearly had all kinds of shitty duty a hundred times worse than going to the field--whatever happened was a natural occurrence of his personality though, I'm sure--it could have only happened to him. I probably do not have to expand on the nasty water surrounding ships in port--you don't want to be in it, believe me--just ask all the dead fish.
HERE FOR THIS! My fav has to be 3 sheets to the wind. Love it Mike! lol
As a young man I was a deckhand for many years aboard the Tall-ship.. ..Argus.. a chartere-square-rigger used for education and seamanship purposes ..out of Newport Beach, Ca.
How much I loved being underway with sails dropped ..being high up in the rigging… my favorite was the crows-nest on high seas… what a ride…. Hahahahaha..! What memories you brought back.
James Crimi
When we were in some port I can't remember the specifics of anymore (I think it was Monaco, but no longer remember) there was this fifty-something English guy who wanted to join the Navy--in his mind, the old days were still with us--the days where you realized you had no money, had drunk everything you had--you had no friends but there was a ship so there was work. You can't do that anymore but he didn't think so--he wanted to come with us. I think we were waiting for some Higgins-type boat to pick us up and take us back to ship; if we couldn't port, we'd be anchored out on the water--they sometimes had liberty boats taking us to town and back. Other times, ship would be in port so we would get on and off that way; other times the United States was so big and bad we anchored not far from shore. He was like "I want to join you mates. I'm good and could work" (now I'm the fifty-something weirdo no one wants, who can't get in despite opportunities all around with drunk youngsters who know nothing of the world hooting and hollering and laughing at me--soon to pass-out safe in their racks).
@@alexanderwalle3568
You and I are kindred-Friends..!
Peace and Goodness Be With ya’
..You Ol’Salty-Sea-Dog.. Jc.
🙏😎🌊😎💪
As a linguist who has always loved the ocean, I absolutely loved this video. I must say that I was surprised “an even keel “ was not mentioned!. 10:08
I have no idea why this video isn't as popular as your titanic stuff. This is some of your best work.
I know it isn't as scholarly or in depth, but it's well researched and presented.
Another fun fact is you can loose all your fingers and possibly a hand via ropes wrapped around posts in port; when you wrap those ropes, you have to be careful, making sure your fingers or hand don't get underneath or caught in the rope--the ship is going to move, stretching the rope possibly to capacity--if your hand or fingers are in there, the ship, water, port and your buddies won't care, and if they did, it'd be too late (look what happened to that guy who tried catching the feral kid's boomerang in Mad Max 2--if people are like that on land, it's worse when you're aboard).
Another one is "taken aback", which has been mentioned a few times in the comments without mention of its origin. It originally referred to getting your ship nearly straight into the wind, such that your sails get filled from the wrong side and are suddenly plastered against the masts, bringing your vessel to a sudden and ignominious halt.
Aren't you sailing close to the wind on this topic Mike? But I suppose there's more than one way to skin a cat.
"Learning the ropes" - as you mentioned, sailing ships were a mass of ropes - and when the crew was "turned-out" of their hammocks to deal with a sudden squall, one that could dismast the ship and leave them stranded at sea, drifting into the doldrums and running out of water ("horse latitudes", from areas of windless sea being carpeted with the floating corpses of horses enroute to markets in America from old-world breeders, but the wind had deserted the ship to where fresh water was running short and the crew would toss the horses overboard so what little water was left, went to them), it was absolutely vital that every crewmember rushes to the correct rope and hauls-on that one (not the one beside it), the correct amount and in the correct direction. So every new sailor, in the process of learning to "hand, reef and steer", had to learn all the ropes on a ship; where they were and what they did. And of course they'd have to "belay" their "skylarking" and pay attention to their lessons, which took about a year - but if they did a good job of it, they might be told to "splice the mainbrace"!
Jury rig, 1600’s term meaning a temporary repair to a mast or rigging. I was helping out at a day care in Chicago. Their door wouldn’t close correctly. I asked if they wanted me to jury rig something so the door would close. I was told I couldn’t say that cause that phrase was racist. I’m glad to see you are showing the true origins of phrases. Thank you.
The phrase, "show a leg" is also naval in origin. In the Navy, sailors were rarely allowed ashore. So when they reached port, the ladies of negotiable affection came aboard. When it came time to sail, the cry would be "show a leg" to see if hammocks were occupied by hairy sailors or not hairy ladies!
I think someone else has mentioned the brass monkey phrase, caused by the different expansion rates of brass and iron, but, being "taken aback" is another.
The UKs flag is commonly known as the "Union Jack" technically, that's only correct when it's flown from the jack stay, which is part of a ships' rigging.
I think it's great that our rich maritime heritage is still reflected in the English language.
Thanks for sharing a fascinating video!
I am led to believe that women were once allowed to sail on RN ships and the command show a leg was to allow ladies 5 more minutes in kip.
@@peterdurnien9084Only certain women were allowed to sail on Navy ships. Usually the wife of the carpenter or bosun. Generally, they were only allowed aboard whilst in port, for "morale" purposes. The call "show a leg" came to make sure there were no women still aboard when leaving harbour.
@vibratingstringThe brass monkeys were the racks used to store cannonballs on deck. They were made of brass, the balls were iron. In very cold weather, the two metals contract at different rates meaning the balls would fall off!
@@peterdurnien9084 In addition to an above comment, the wives of all the permanent crew of the ship were allowed aboard, not just the Bosun and carpenter. Usually after each voyage the majority of the crew, including the officers were 'paid off', including the Captain, usually to go onto other ships. The permanent crew were the bosun, carpenter, gunner, master, sailmaker, and depending on time period the purser and one or two of the other senior what we would call NCO's these days, specifically they were the Warrant Officers. They were the only members of the crew permanently assigned to the ship in question. If a ship was placed into ordinary (put into reserve) it was the permanent crew who would stay with her to maintain her. It was not unusual for these NCO's to stay with the same ship they were awarded their warrant for for the rest of their careers.
In addition a few other women were allowed aboard, though it was rarely done, generally the wives or/and daughters of the senior officers of the crew, generally the Captain and occasionally the 1st officer.
Should a ship have to beat to quarters the women were generally employed on the Orlop Deck with the surgeon Partly because it was good for morale, partly because it was one of the safest places on a ship in the event of battle. I mean, its literally one of the reasons the Surgeon was stationed there....
I have yet to see an actual brass monkey, why use expensive brass when the rest of the ship was wood.?
In french we have an expression, it is "bon vent"(good wind), to wish someone a good travel or to f*** off (depends the context)
In English, sometimes we say bon voyage :-)
Refering to flags as colors, is not antiquated. At least the Canadian Military still refer to the group carrying the flags in a parade as a color party. When they call for the color party, they call March on the colors.
When I hear "Canada", "parade" and "color party" I'd think of something different.. though I wouldn't be surprised in the least if the Canadian military does fly the rainbow flag. The Americans do.
In the US we have "color guards" and in the UK they also have "Trooping the Colours."
As a Canadian you should know how to spell “colour”. Don’t sound like a Canadian to me, sorry. How do you pronounce “z”? Thought so.
@@geraldfitzgut Bro literally trying to gatekeep a nationality. 🤣
Don't ever go to Québec.
@@geraldfitzgut You're right, of course, but being unable to spell is the least of Canadian's problemas.
If you watch Star Trek TOS or especially Wrath of khan, the nautical feel and terminology is so obvious you can't miss it. And it's great.
The expression 'Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic' doesn't need any explanation :D
He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him round the moons of Nebia, round the Antares maelstrom, round Perdition's Flame before I give him up!
well the ships name is Enterprise and i thought that it was a "navy" ship
@@tinymetaltrees KHAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!!
Heard that one from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
"Ramirez! You're polishing brass on the Titanic!"
@@DKrueger1994 My Grandfather was Harland & Wolff's chief metallurgist, responsible for casting all of Titanic's bronze.
I love this kind of video digging into the depth of maritime culture and it’s effect on other parts of life. Wonderful job!!
Fun video 🙂
Pretty please, can we have a video on the ocean liners engineered by Isambard Brunel? Surely the SS Great Western and SS Great Britain with their sails and steam, of course along with the story of the mighty SS Great Eastern would make for a marvelous video by our friend from Oceanliner Designs - @MikeBrady 😉
Much love from Toowoomba Queensland.
Here's another one for you. I'm retired now, but when I was a long distance truck driver and my dispatcher would give me a time critical rush load that absolutely needed to be delivered on time, he'd often tell me to "Put her in the wind!".
*”I drive like the wind” Jack Nicholson in “As Good as it Gets”*
As a historian and linguist, I have always been fascinated by the origin of words and phrases. As such, I thoroughly enjoyed your delightful presentation -- which I watched to the, by no means "bitter" end, the one expression whose origin was new to me.
Thanks for yet another informative and delightful video.
"Three sheets to the wind" was the favorite expression of one of my civilian colleagues when I was Navy enlisted.
Another good one is “cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey” comes from the brass stand that they used to stack cannonballs on
A popular but bogus folk etymology I'm afraid.
@@nickmiller76 I disagree.
I’m amazed how chock-a-block with old yarns this post is. But, bye and large, you’ve showed a good leg. 👍
"Popeye," which maybe be unrelated, I recently learned is actually based on a real person.
'Between the Devil & The deep blue sea' (to have two equally bad options) The Devil was actually the centre plank of the deck (so called as it was 'a devil' to lay during shipbuilding), I've hears it said that it's a reference to laying the deck - do you start from the scuppers and work inward, until you reach the centre? - meaning you only have to shape 'the devil' (hence it's name) or do you lay 'the devil' first and work outwards (meaning you've two sets of planks to shape).
'Not enough room to swing a cat', (A Cramped area), Not enough room to swing the 'cat o' nine tails on a hapless crewmate.
'To let the cat out of the bag' - (To reveal a secret) If you saw the bosun taking the cat o' nine tails out of the bag you knew some crewmember was due to be lashed.
'To turn a blind eye', (to ignore something) From Nelson, when ordered not to engage French ships if seen, when told by a crewmember French ships had been sighted, he held his spyglass to his blind eye and said "Ships? I see no ships!"
'Tapping the Admiral', (To sneak a sly drink) Legend has it that following his death at Trafalgar, it was realized Nelson would be a national hero and his remains were to be preserved for a state funeral. So His remains were loaded into a cask of brandy (this caused outrage, as the public believed rum was more appropriate)to preserve them. However, according to the legend, Nelson nearly suffered the fate of many of Darwin's samples at the hands of parched sailors... When the Cask was opened to retrieve Nelson's remains, the cask held substantially less alcohol than it did when he was interred within!. (In reality, the cask was lashed to the mainmast and put under armed guard).
'Groggy', (to be disorientated) On the subject of Rum, Rum and beer were rationed to the Royal Navy into the 1970's, but originally it was added to water to sterilize water that may have been in casks for months. This was know as 'Grog' - if you drank too much you got 'Groggy'.
'Pressganged', (When you've been 'persuaded' to enter into an endeavor) From the notorious pressgangs that roamed the bars of ports 'recruiting' unemployed fishermen or sailors.
'Up to the gunwhales' (Pronounced 'Gunnels' - when you're so busy you're almost overwhelmed.) The Gunwhales are the very top of the guardrail on a ship, if the water is up to that, then you're out of options and even the most efficient pump in the world (A scared sailor with a bucket) ain't going to save you.
Not quite in the vein but as the Royal Marines are Royal Navy - 'Go tell the Marines' because Marines were so well travelled, if someone told an unbelievable tale, if it was believed by a Marine then there must be some truth in it.
Again with the Marines "Bootnecks" (UK) and "Leathernecks" (US) At one time the Royal Marines had a leather collar on their tunic, and got them the nickname, this was later adopted by the USMC. The Marines were quartered between the officers and men to prevent mutiny and the collar was said to be to prevent them getting their throats cut as they slept.
'Up the creek' (To be in a dire situation) The Creek refers to Haslar lake and Gosportcreek, just outside Portsmouth. Wounded sailors would be taled to the Royal Navy Hospital Haslar on a spit of land guarded on the landward side by Marines. Back in the Napoleonic period, hospital hygiene left a lot to be desired and communicable diseases spread rapidly through the wards. So many saw going to Haslar as a death sentence.
'A square meal' (A decent meal) back to the pressgangs I'm afraid, not all those 'pressganged' were involuntary. Some were hard up cases, and joined to get a guaranteed meal three times a day (Which in Napoleon's Navy was 6000 calories per day). Which were served on a square plate.
I'm sorry but you are wrong about the "devil and the deep blue sea". The devil refers to the seam between OUTERMOST plank in the ship's deck and the hull planking, not the central one, and it means the only thing between the sailor and sea is the thickness of the hull. The innermost, or middle plank was called the "Kingplank", just as the central spoke in the ships wheel was the "Kingspoke".
I am always amazed about how complicated it was to work the sails. The number of lines used on those large sailing ship boggles the mind. The thought of having climb up to the sails in heavy weather is beyond belief.
I am 82, and only recently discovered you channel. I find it very informative, educational and a pleasure to watch.
What got me into the Titanic was "101 Things You Thought You Knew about the Titanic...but Didn't!" I thought it would be a boring, fact-list I'd never really read--there's a lot of books that fail to hook me--I saw "the movie" and obviously heard about the Titanic before, but I flew through it in a few days, which also lead me to this channel (the engineering aspects of ships like that explained here are probably lost on most people like they were with me--it's amazing something that big was built like that back then--even more amazing is how fast it all went down).
Love this! Clean slate is one that is attributed to so many origins. I learned it from the Latin tabula rasa (literally a clean wax tablet), but the internet also says it's from wiping a white board clean in school. I'd never heard the nautical origin story before!
That should teach you not to trust the internet.
"Godspeed" "Cold enough to freeze the ball off of a brass monkey" or "Ship-shape and Bristol Fashon" are my favourites, I use them regularly.
Have you ever done a video on the movie Masrer and Commander (2003) and the Patrick O'Brien novels? There is a wealth of facinating details in both and many books have been written about them and the Great Age Of Sail. My favourite is Lobscouse And Spotted Dog about cooking abord ship in that era.
I've heard POSH accommodation....is an acronym for Port Out Starboard Home. Prime cabins for long, shipboard, travel in 19th and 20th centuries..... Does it "answer" or "signify?"
A surprising amount of saying we use come from the military as well. "Balls to the wall" for example; though not a sailing term, originated from early fighters. Their throttles had ball shaped handles, and putting balls to the wall referred to going to full speed, which put the balls toward the front wall of the cockpit.
And “the whole nine yards” from the length is of a machine gun ammunition belt.
@@allangibson8494 Again, I disagree. A fully rigged ship had nine yards on which the sails were set. Full speed is sails set on all nine.
@@UguysRnuts A fully rigged ship has way more than nine yards. Nine yardarms is the absolute minimum required to make a fully rigged ship a ship.
It's difficult to remain aloof, amid the flotsam and jetsam of lubbery life when a new Oceanliner Design episode comes to the fore. I'll just cut and run now...
Flotsam is stuff from a ship floating in the ocean accidentally. Jetsam is stuff deliberately thrown overboard. Cut and run refers to fleeing an attack by cutting one's anchor rode instead of taking the time to haul it in.
Great video, it can be amazing to realize how many terms we use come from the age of sail and seafaring in general. Considering how much of civilization developed along waterways and oceans maybe it shouldn’t be as amazing. Weirdly while not a nautical term the other day I ran across the term tinder box used in a sci-fi book. The use of tinder boxes was replaced with matches by the mid-1800’s yet almost 2 centuries later the term meaning of course something containing easily set alight items is still in use and understood by many.
Tinder is kindling, not matches and not replaced by anything. You can't light a campfire without tinder.
Captain Turner a few seconds after hearing an explosion on the Lusitania 0:59
Bro 💀
Great video 😀 Not sure about the clean slate one, since slates (basically hand-sized black boards) were historically employed as simple writing utensils for taking temporary notes in any number of professions and even in staple in schools. Writing slates were first referenced in writing in the 14th century but similar objects have been found with currency and other artifacts dating back to at least the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (~5th century). So there's a decent chance our concept of English might be younger than the idiom 😶
Two hundred years ago nautical terms were in common enough use that authors could assume that their readers would know the meanings: e.g. Richard Henry Dana's wonderful Two Years before the Mast, in which nothing is explained. A couple of centuries later, Patrick O'Brian had had to invent the landlubber Doctor Maturin to have an excuse for explanations.
This was neat! One minor nitpick--"clean slate" in English could also be tied to the Latin phrase "tabula rasa," which essentially means the same thing ("blank tablet") but refers to the beeswax tabulae folx used for quick notes. It's neat it has a specific meaning in sailing history, but I don't think it's quite a "sailing expression" per se.
It's a theory that "Cup of Joe" comes from the Secretary of the Navy in 1913 as he banned alcohol onboard. Coffee took place of the rum and so the sailor's would have a cup of "joe" in honor of the man who took their drink away!
Good one Mike, but why record your interesting info with a bl%dy ice cream van ringing out its jingles in the vicinity ?
Drove me mad !!! Too overpowering.
Another one: 'Nipper'. It's not unusual to call a child by the affectionate term 'a nipper'. In days of old of wooden ships and iron men, the anchor was hauled in by men turning a windlass. This involved an endless loop of cable around two windlass' to which the anchor cable itself was attached with short lengths of cord called 'nips'. These were tied on by ships boys who would then run along with it before releasing the nip and allowing the anchor cable to coil down into the cable locker. The boys who did this were called 'nippers'.
In the Royal Yacht Squadron £100 Cup Race around the Isle of Wright in 1851, where the Yacht America from the New York Yacht Club won the race. They had modified it when she got to England. Her jib on the bow sprit was extended. During the race, she was fairly slow compared to her voyage form New York. At one point, she went bow down into a wave. When she came up, her extention had been "carried away", from that point on. America picked up speed and won the race.
My understanding of America's victory was based on it switching to light cotton sails for the race after crossing the Atlantic using heavy flax, sea-going sails.
It is an englisch thing. In Germany we have more Proverbs from war primerely from the 30 years of war.
You need to obtain a copy of " A Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor" by Darcy Lever.
Mr. Brady that was great. I love the origin of words and you have excelled today. I can't wait for Part 2
How fascinating I hope to see more sailing content, I’ve always been impressed by the skill of those who crewed those beautiful vessels.
Ship shape and Bristol fashion.
I went to the Dolly Shop and everything was Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion including the woman serving who was Round at the Counter and Bluff at the Bow. Shiver me timbers!
On a different note, I am sure you have heard of Culvert's rules for avoiding collision at sea; but I can't find any reference out there in web land. I copied mine from Reeds Nautical Almanac (now theres a book and a half)
Love "Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion"!
@vibratingstring The Bristol referred to is the second largest port in England. Nathaniel Herreshoff was from Bristol, Rhode Island and has nothing to do with the expression, "Bristol Fashion".
My last name is Sheets. Guess what my nickname was when I was in the Navy. Yup, 3
Sheets to the wind. 😂
Here in America, we almost said "Ahoy" when answering a phone thanks to the inventor Alexander Graham Bell wanting to make that the standard way to answer a phone , thankfully, Thomas Edison suggested "Hello" instead, and we went with that.
Great video for a winter day cold enough to freeze iron balls off a brass monkey.
You never fail to produce interesting and enlightening content, keep up the good work mate!
Mike, What a great episode! I’m a sailor on the Chesapeake Bay (see my UA-cam channel) and it was amusing to hear the sailing origins of some common words and phrases. But when sailing, even today, we still use many of those same words and phrases. Fair winds and following seas!
There is a word in Danish that in the Viking Age meant hole, but today has a completely different meaning, but still related to the original meaning of the word. The word is "Røv" (roev) which means hole. The hole that is alluded to is on a Viking ship where you put a stick so that you could lash the lap to the sail. The word "Røv" in everyday Danish means ass and you also say it in conjunction with hole, ass-hole, so you say hole hole.
There's another sailing word for hole in English slang which refers to a slit shaped incision as found in a rope eye or buttonhole. In recent times it has been reduced to "cut". As in a "cu*t splice".
@vibratingstring Do you mean heave a line?
😂
To haul on those sheets (ropes controlling sails) and lifting spars or whalers or gigs (small boats) a block and tackle was often used. Most commonly a "handy billie" or three to one mechanical advantage. For really heavy jobs, four, five or even six to one advantage tackle could be used. Of course, once 'reaved', the tackle had an obvious distance limit - the distance between the two blocks. Once the tackle had been hauled up so the point where the two blocks were touching, the tackle was "chocker block" or, just 'chocker.' So the expression morphed into every day speech and someone who is fed up or frustrated with some situation (or person!) they were said to be 'really chocker with......'
A "handy Billy" is just a multi-purpose block and tackle which can be used as a force multiplier when required and consisted of a single block and beckett and double block, which increase the mechanical advantage by a factor of four. Lifting large items such as "whalers" was done with either dedicated davits and tackles or one of the mainsheet tackles on a boom swung over the side.
Hi Mike, I actually love the origins of sayings, and your video has come up with some great examples. Love the diversity of your videos, keep em coming. Always look forward to your next iteration.
Vlog... blog... log (as in journal or register).. from the record of a ship's speed taken by throwing a wooden log off the bow, tied to a knotted rope. Timing the number of knots displayed gave the speed, which was written into the log.
True.
Love your videos mike. Keep up the great work. Also cant whait for grand voyage
"Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".
Correct me if Im wrong, but my understanding is that the Monkey was a metal plate with divets in the top in a grid pattern, 4x4 equalling 16 divets etc, that you sat cannon balls onto in a pyramid shape to stop them rolling around. The balls were made of iron, so brass was used as the plate so that they wouldnt rust together. But when there was a rapid drop in temperature, the brass would contract faster than the iron, which in turn would cause the pyramid to topple. Hence the term.
Nah... think of the triangle one uses in billiards. The metal tray with divots is for baking muffins.
My favourite: if you tack into the wind poorly, you can be caught with the vessel pointing directly into the wind and the sails catching the wind pushing the ship backwards. When this happens you are said to be ‘taken aback.”
Or more commonly "in irons".
Three sheets to the wind does NOT mean letting the sheets all run loose. It means securing them on the wrong side of the vessel.
The sails had a sheet on both sides, and in normal sailing the leeward (downwind) sheet was secured to the vessel. But if you had three sails with their windward sheet secured instead, the ship wouldn’t sail. It would just heel over and lurch about.
You don’t normally sheet sails “to the wind” except in a maneuver called heaving-to, which is a way to stop the vessel with the sails up. So, three sheets to the wind means all the sails are sheeted on the wrong side - everything is cockeyed and wrong.
I agree.
Wow you upload at some strange times Mike. lol oh well who isn’t down for a cheeky ocean liner designs video at 1am ❤
It was uploaded at 4pm where I live, so perfect time really.
Time zones, how do they work? 🤣
The video was released around noon Central European Time. Not particularly crazy when you look at it from here.
0030 here in Australia.
It was released in the morning in the US. That and in the evening in the US are the best times to release videos.
I believe "taken aback" referred to when the wind got on the wrong side of the sails due to the helmsman not watching his course or the wind suddenly shifting direction.
It probably comes from the sails violently shaking when aback, ergo to be shaken by something is to be taken aback.
I grew up on a yacht. To this day even if I was just crossing the road or walking through a supermarket & heard a male voice yell "Belay that!", I would instantly freeze & await further instructions/admonishment from my father. Not doing so as a kid could mean the difference between life death on the boat.
Also, one of the other things about sailing words & phrases is they were designed to convey very clear, precise meanings & be understood while being shouted in really bad noisy conditions - one of the reasons so many terms are the same across nationalities.
I think It would be interesting to shine a light on how these where carried over the dry trade routes and how these and those mixed
More!!! Just found this channel- long time sailer, here…
Perhaps next time talk about the linguistic history of more technical terms. I.e. original language, what the people of said culture have to do with how it got into modern(ish) English, etc.
Makes for an interesting way to look at it (and of course, for the amusement has pirates & vikings amongst other bonuses).
Real sailors find pirates about as interesting as Naught zees.
@@UguysRnuts Which is still at least 34 levels of magnitude more interesting than people who use euphemisms designed to infantilize the language.
I love using the term "a loose cannon"!
Trump...a loose cannon, and a Jonah😊
My favourite - Lost the plot
Ropes? That term was a sin that would unleash a flow of ridicule heavily laced with sailor profanity. We had sheets and lines, but no ropes on a sailing ship.
Actually there are usually at least 2 ropes on board - the bell rope and the bucket rope.
@@simonabunkerI stand humbly corrected. Fair winds to you!
I like the cut of your jib, Mike.
Without boating, boxing, and chooks, we'd have no expressions
I am pleased to see the main stay mentioned as well as pictures of the steel ship Balclutha. Also some of the later ships had iron and steel masts. Even they could break in a dismasting, as in the case of the iron ship Wavertree. TM retired but still follows sailing ships.
Mike, I would imagine that the ladies like the cut of your jib! Not a particularly common phrase today, I admit, and you also don't hear people say, "Give him the heave-ho" anymore, or even, "You'd better give him a wide berth."
If I'm not mistaken, the phrases "turn in" (meaning to go to sleep) and "turn out" have their origin with sailors getting in and out of cramped bunks.
You mentioned "touch and go," "toe the line" and "aboveboard" in the intro but you never gave their origins. Put them in Part Two?
The Poop Deck is what I call my bathroom!
Yeah but that's not what it was called on a sailing ship it was the head or heads
It would be good to have a channel in French. I know I'm writing this comment in English but I'm using Google Translate because I don't speak English. And I only understand 5 or 10% of what is explained, I only rely on the images. I love this channel and it would be nice to think of us too. Or wait for UA-cam to roll out automatic dubbing...
The bitter end refers to the end of the anchor cable (chain) that is down in the cable locker and is securely fastened to the ship. It never gets paid out but does get soaked in sea water the ingresses through the hawse pipe making it 'bitter' or salty and amongst other things filthy. Or at least that's my understanding from nearly 2 decades in the Andrew.
Which is why a prudent sailor reverses an anchor rode, end for end on a regular basis and why most of them use chain.
The expression "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" sounds ridiculous, but it has a maritime origin. In the days of tallships and canons, canon balls were stacked in pyramids next to the canon. They were stacked on a brass plate not unlike an egg carton called a monkey, the monkey being made of brass. When the temperature got cold enough, the brass monkey, having a different thermal coefficient than the wrought iron cannon balls, would shrink faster than the balls causing the balls to dislodge and spill. Hence the saying "Cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey.".
I've always heard "Change track" instead of "Change tack". Both make sense, just one is nautical and the other is railroad. But the implication is the same.
'Nipper', 'Ship-Shape and Bristol Fashion', 'Knock Seven Bells (out of him)', 'Learn the Ropes', 'Cold Enough To Freeze the Balls Off A Brass Monkey', 'Grog' (as in 'Groggy'), 'POSH', 'Veer Around', '(See it at) Close Quarters', 'Give a Wide Berth', 'On-Board (with it)', 'In The Doldrums', 'Caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea', 'High and Dry', 'A Long Shot', 'Sailing Close to the Wind', 'Loose Cannon', 'Son of a Gun, 'Scraping the Barrel', 'Choc-a-Block', 'Scuttlebutt', 'As the Crow Flies', 'Feeling Blue', 'Mate', (any)'Leeway' (on that price?) etc etc.
Took me 30 minutes to think of those, there must be scores more expressions I could name (not really), but that would be 'Letting the Cat Out Of the Bag'......
When I joined the Suck (common derogatory parlance for the USMC--and you don't join--they tolerate you and you tolerate them--at some point there's an agreement and expectation that you'll one day be up to speed--it's too late to send you back--that's how you get in) but one of the things we were expected to say in boot camp was "Aye, aye, Sir!" Which I thought was really cool--that came straight from naval tradition somewhere that much I knew, it was possibly hundreds of years old but still used--at that age I knew nothing, but "Aye, aye" was like being in the Navy--I felt grounded in coolness whenever I said it--which was a lot. It was like I was in the Old Navy where they let you have a white beard at high seas and grave danger--I heard "Aye, aye" on Gilligan's Island and Blackbeard's people might have also used the response--now I was living both worlds--I was "Gilligan," the Drill Instructors were "Blackbeard."
Chain stay, seat stay, ....ship terminology adapted for bicycle frames?
What? My friend Mike Brady is talking about word origins? Is RobWords going to start discussing Maritime history?
How many ropes on a sailing ship,?..none. There are stays, sheets, halyards, you name it , but never ropes. How long is a rope? 120 fathoms, (710' or 219 m). All of the above are cut from rope & named according to the use to which they are put. Generally a 3 strand "hawser lain" right hand twist, but genarally larger diameter hawser lay might be 4 strand shroud lain left hand twist. Below 5/16" the term cordage shall apply.
The B|ritish Fire Brigades were founded along RN lines & share many Naval traditions, hence the watch system.
"Standby to slip!"
"Cats out of the bag", "The devil to pay", "deep six", "Mare's tails, mare's tails make tall ships carry low sails", "reckon"
"Red alert!!!! Shields up!!! Charge the phasers and load the torpedoes!!!" That not common, is it???? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
"It is cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey" comes from the practice of putting iron cannon balls on a dimpled brass plate on the deck of a war-ship. When very cold the brass contracted sufficiently to cause the iron balls to fall out.
I'm always dropping bits of nautical facts and history on my kids. Thanks, you gave me a couple more. I'm sure they'll just Love that.....
being under the weather is probably another term for being sick with an unknown ailment it would mean isolation below ships AKA below the waterline (again AKA!) below any weather!
“Stay” on a sailing ship is fore and aft line that braces the mast and jib.
Speaking of jib “likes the cut of your jib” is another idiom.
The Devil to pay
Hold on to the bitter end
“Down East” for New Englanders
Mind your “Ps and Qs”
Scuttlebutt
“Yarns” meaning stories
Cat got your tongue
20 years in the Navy.
I can’t believe he left out “by and large”.
Sailing “by” the wind means close-hauled.
Sailing “large” means with wind behind you.
Thus, “By & Large” means in general, or overall.
Nice job! Was completely familiar with all the expressions except “At Loggerheads.” But than, as a retired Professional Mariner who’s also a history buff, that’s to be expected. Aspects of the business changed rapidly, including the switch to Electronic Navigation, occurring early in my career. Prior to Satellite Navigation, we depended on our celestial navigation skills using with the sextant to safely navigate he world. Nor were there any computers on board my first ships, many of which were built in and around WW2. In fact the first basic hand held calculators were just popping up in the early 70’s. The changes came quickly.
clean slates , 3 sheets to the wind, logheads ... soy español y esto me sirve a la vez como una lección de filología inglesa y como una lección de narrativa nautica . 👍🏻
I have heard that the English word 'mess', for where seaman ate their meals, is derived from the Spanish word 'mesa', ie 'table'.
@@nickmiller76 yes is true, in spanish table is "mesa", back not the only sailors , in land too , all the tables is say " mesa"
(i hope that my explication was being useful ... and Sorry my English, it's very poor )
Three sheets to the wind. (First,
a sailboat that can hoist 3 sails,
this works best on a "Marconi"
rig, with either a foremast, or a
mizzen.) OK, on a Ketch, just
about my favourite design,
you need a jib, main, and a
mizzen sail.
3 sheets to the wind, not quite
there, but give me an hour or 2.
Oh, Cherry Coke, with spiced
Rum, of my own make. (100
proof.)
steve