Georgian Naval sayings still used today
– A –
above board
Anything on or above the open deck. If something is open and in plain view, it is above board.
all at sea
This dates to the time when accurate navigational aids weren’t available. Any ship that was out of sight of land was in an uncertain position and in danger of becoming lost.
As the crow flies:
Shortest travelling distance between two points
It was a custom to carry crows on board ships. Vessels out of sight of land would release a crow, which would naturally fly towards land, taking the most direct route. Ships would follow the path of the crow, and the lookout platform at the top of the tallest mast became known as the crow’s nest.
aloof
Now means to stand apart or be indifferent, but it came from the Old Dutch word loef which meant “windward” and was used to describe a ship within a fleet which sailed higher to the wind and was thus drawn apart from the rest of the fleet.
At a loose end:
Unoccupied
The original saying was ‘at loose ends’, and described the task of splicing and repairing broken and frayed ropes on board ship, which sailors did when they had no other duties.
at loggerheads
An iron ball attached to a long handle was a loggerhead. When heated it was used to seal the pitch in deck seams. It was sometimes a handy weapon for quarreling crewmen.
…They had been sparring, in a spirit of fun, with loggerheads, those massy iron balls with long handles to be carried red-hot from the fire and plunged into buckets of tar or pitch so that the substance might be melted with no risk of flame. ‘They are sober now, sir; and penitent, the creatures.’ – The Commodore by Patrick O’Brian
– B –
Barge in:
Rudely interrupt
A barge was a flat-bottomed boat worked in a port or on a river. They were difficult to steer and were renowned for banging into other vessels.
Batten down the hatches:
Make secure
In stormy weather deck hatches had wooden covers placed over them, which were secured with nailed-down wooden battens.
Bear down:
Approach rapidly and purposefully; advance towards in a threatening manner
Sail downwind at full speed towards an enemy ship or landmark.
Bear up:
Keep in good spirits, despite difficulties; withstand stress
The action of pushing the helm over to turn the bows of the ship towards the wind, thereby causing huge stress to the vessel. (see also hard up)
Between the devil and the deep blue sea:
A dilemma; a choice between two equally difficult circumstances
The ‘devil’ was the name for the longest seam of the ship, which ran from stem to stern along the length of the beam that supported the gun deck. To seal this seam whilst at sea, a sailor was suspended over the side of the ship in a precarious position literally between the ‘devil’ and the sea. (see also devil to pay)
Bitter end:
To the last, no matter the struggle
The posts on the decks to which anchor cables were attached were known as ‘bitts’. The end of an anchor cable secured to the bitts was the bitter end (as opposed to the anchor end). In bad weather when the anchor dragged, cable was fed out, until the bitter end.
Buoyed up:
Heartened; encouraged; inspired; enthused
The anchor cable was kept off the seabed by a buoy to stop it from getting damaged.
By and Large:
Generally speaking
‘By the wind’ meant going to windward, sailing into the wind. Sailing ‘large’ meant sailing slightly off the line of the wind, therefore reducing the chance of being taken aback.
– C –
chock-a-block
A block and tackle is a pulley system used on sailing ships to hoist the sails. The phrase describes what occurs the system is raised to its fullest extent – when there is no more rope free and the blocks jam tightly together. Predictably this lead to its current meaning, “crammed so tightly together as to prevent movement”.
clean bill of health
A certificate signed by a port authority attesting that no contagious disease existed in the port of departure and none of crew were infected with a disease at the time of sailing. Shore-side, it means in good shape.
Clean slate:
Fresh start; start over without prejudice
The watch keeper would record details such as courses, distances, speeds and tacks on slate tablets using chalk. If there were no problems during the watch, the slate was wiped clean ready for the next watch.
clear the deck
One of the things done in preparation for battle. Current usage similar to batten down the hatches.
Clean sweep:
Complete change; nowadays also an overwhelming victory
In rough weather, waves washed (swept) over the decks of ships, shifting about anything that wasn’t secured.
close quarters
In the 17th century the barriers that sailors laid across a ship’s deck in order to provide a safe haven from the enemy were called close-fights. By the mid 18th century that confined defensive space became called ‘close quarters’, i.e. close dwellings. This eventually came to mean ‘near enough to to be able to fight hand to hand’.
copper-bottomed
‘Copper-bottomed’ described ships that were fitted with copper plating on the underside of their hulls. The process was first used on ships of the British Navy in 1761 to defend their wooden planking against attack by Teredo worms a.k.a. Shipworms and to reduce infestations by barnacles. The method was successful in protecting ships’ timbers and in increasing speed and manoeuvrability and soon became widely used. Before long, ‘copper-bottomed’ began to be used figuratively to refer to anything that was certain and trustworthy.
cut and run
Most often thought to mean the cutting of an anchor line in an effort to make a quick getaway. Hard to imagine that many ship’s masters enjoyed routinely losing an anchor or two, so it is probably more likely referring to the practice of securing the sails of a square-rigged ship with rope yarns that could easily be cut away when a quick departure was necessary.
cut of one’s jib
Warships many times had their foresails or jib sails cut thinly so that they could maintain point and not be blown off course. Upon sighting thin foresails on a distant ship a captain might not like the cut of his jib and would then have an opportunity to escape.
Chewing the fat:
Talking informally; talking at length
In the days before refrigeration, salted beef and pork was a sailor’s staple meat ration. This hard and tough cured meat required prolonged chewing to make it edible.
– D –
deliver a broadside
A broadside was the simultaneous firing of the guns and/or canons on one side of a war ship. Quite a blow, as can be imagined. Today it means much the same type of all-out attack, though done (usually) with words.
Dogsbody:
Someone considered a menial
Meals made from passengers’ leftovers mixed with ships biscuits were known as dogsbody. This poor-quality food was fed to those with the lowest status, who then became known as dogsbodies.
Down a peg (or two):
Humbled
An admiral flew his personal standard at the highest point of the mast, attached by rope to one of a series of pegs at the base of the mast. If a more senior admiral came aboard, the original standard was taken down a peg or two to make way for the new flag, thus apparently hurting the pride or bruising the ego of the ship’s regular senior officer.
Down the hatch:
Drink a measure of alcohol, usually said as a toast
Cargoes were lowered into a ship’s hold through hatches in the deck, giving the impression of being consumed by the ship.
devil to pay
Originally, this expression described one of the unpleasant tasks aboard a wooden ship. The devil was the ship’s longest seam in the hull. Caulking was done with pay or pitch (a kind of tar). The task of ‘paying the devil’ (caulking the longest seam) by squatting in the bilges was one of the worst and most difficult jobs onboard. The term has come to mean a difficult, seemingly impossible task. ‘The devil to pay and no pitch hot’. Landlubbers, having no seafaring knowledge, assumed it referred to satan and gave the term a moral interpretation.
‘Why, the devil, do you see,’ said Jack, ‘is the seam between the deck-planking and the timbers, and we call it the devil, because it is the devil for the caulkers to come at: in full we say the devil to pay and no pitch hot; and what we mean is, that there is something hell-fire difficult to be done – must be done – and nothing to do it with. It is a figure.’ – The Mauritius Command by Patrick O’Brian
dressing down
Thin and worn sails were often treated with oil or wax to renew their effectiveness. This was called “dressing down”. An officer or sailor who was reprimanded or scolded received a dressing down.
dutch courage
Dates to the 1600s Anglo-Dutch wars and was likely British propaganda claiming that the Dutch troops were so cowardly they wouldn’t fight unless fortified with copious amounts of schnapps. The term has come to mean false courage induced by drink, or the drink itself.
– E –
edging forward
This phrase describes inch-by-inch progress and was first used in the 17th century, typically in nautical contexts and referring to slow advance by means of repeated small tacking movements.
even keel
A vessel that floats upright without list is said to be on an even keel and this term has come to mean calm and steady. A keel is like the backbone of the vessel, the lowest and principal centerline structural member running fore and aft. Keeled over (upside down) was a sailor’s term for death.
Eat my hat:
What will be done if something thought sure to happen, doesn’t happen
Sailors kept their chewing tobacco in their hats, the linings of which became soaked in sweat and tobacco juice. If they ran out of tobacco they would take out the linings of their hats and chew them.
– F –
fall foul of/foul up
Foul is an often used nautical term generally meaning entangled or impeded. An anchor tangled in line or cable is said to be a foul anchor. A foul berth is caused by another vessel anchoring too close wherein the risk of collision exists. A foul bottom offers poor holding for anchors. A screw up!
fathom
A nautical measure equal to six feet, used to measure the depth of water at sea. The word was also used to describe taking the measure or “to fathom” something. Today when one is trying to figure something out, they are trying to fathom it or get to the bottom of it.
figurehead
An ornamental figure placed on the front of a ship, under the bowsprit. Originally a religious and/or protective emblem. The custom continued but for purely decorative purposes. Hence the term figurehead – a leader with no real power or function except to ‘look good’ or appeal to a certain group.
filibuster
Buccaneers were sometimes known in England as filibusters. From the Dutch for vrybuiter (freebooter) translated into French as flibustier. It is now used as a political term meaning to delay or obstruct the passage of legislation (as opposed to sailing vessels) by non-stop speech making.
first rate
Implies excellence. From the 16th century on until steam powered ships took over, British naval ships were rated as to the number of heavy cannon they carried. A ship of 100 or more guns was a First Rate line-of-battle ship. Second rates carried 90 to 98 guns; Third Rates, 64 to 89 guns; Fourth Rates, 50 to 60 guns. Frigates carrying 20 to 48 guns were fifth and sixth rated.
fits the bill
A Bill of Lading was signed by the ship’s master acknowledging receipt of specified goods and the promise to deliver them to their destination in the same condition. Upon delivery, the goods were checked against the bill to see if all was in order. If so, they fit the bill.
flotsam and jetsam
These are legal terms in maritime law. Flotsam is any part of the wreckage of a ship or her cargo that is lost by accident and found floating on the surface of the water. Jetsam are goods or equipment deliberately thrown overboard (jettisoned) to make the ship more stable in high winds or heavy seas. (Lagan are goods cast overboard with a rope attached so that they may be retrieved and sometimes refers to goods remaining inside a sunken ship or lying on the bottom.) The term flotsam and jetsam shore-side means odds and ends of no great value.
footloose
The bottom portion of a sail is called the foot. If it is not secured, it is footloose and it dances randomly in the wind.
from stem to stern
From the front of a ship to the back. Now describes something in its entirety.
flying colors
To come through a battle with flying colors means a ship has come through relatively unscathed and with her colors (flag) flying.
Flogging a dead horse:
Doing something for no apparent gain; act to no effect
It was customary to pay sailors taken on at the start of a voyage one months’ wages in advance, usually in order that they could pay off debts run up whilst waiting for their next ship. Sailors called the first month at sea, a period when they were effectively working hard (flogging) for nothing, ‘dead horse’ time. The end of the first month, the end of ‘dead horse’ time, was celebrated by making an effigy of a horse, parading it around the ship, hauling it up a mast, setting fire to it and throwing it into the sea.
– G –
Get cracking:
Hurry up; move with haste
Carrying the greatest amount of sail as possible, to progress as fast as the ship can, hence also the expressions ‘crack on’ and ‘cracking on’.
Give me some slack:
Make allowances for the completion of an act
It took teams of men to haul in and tie a ship to a pier. As one team hauled on their line, tension on the other line was released (the second team were therefore ‘given slack’), and so on until the ship was properly aligned. A variation of this expression in modern use is ‘cut me some slack’.
get underway
‘Way’ here doesn’t mean road or route but has the specifically nautical meaning of ‘the forward progress of a ship though the water’, or the wake that the ship leaves behind. Way has been used like that since at least the 17th century.
give a wide berth
To anchor a ship far enough away from another ship so that they did not hit each other when they swung with the wind or tide.
go overboard
The nautical origin of this one should be fairly self-evident ?
gripe
A sailing vessel gripes when, by poor design or imbalance of sail, it tends to end up with its bow into the wind when sailing close-hauled. The sails flap around, forward progress is halted and she is very hard to steer. On land, the term means to complain, complain, complain.
groggy
In 1740, British Admiral Vernon (whose nickname was “Old Grogram” for the cloak of grogram which he wore) ordered that the sailors’ daily ration of rum be diluted with water. The men called the mixture “grog”. A sailor who drank too much grog was “groggy”.
groundswell
A sudden rise of water along the shore. It often happens when the weather is fine and the sea behind it appears calm. Said to occur when undulating water from a far away storm reaches the shoreline where friction causes the swell. In common use, the term groundswell means a growing change in public opinion.
– H –
half seas over
A ship run aground on reef or rock with seas breaking over her. Not much can be done in this situation. The expression has come to mean a person so inebriated as to be incapable of steering a steady course.
hand over fist
Hand over hand was a British term for the act of moving quickly up a rope or hoisting a sail, which was a matter of pride and competition among sailors. It is thought that American sailors changed this term to ‘hand over fist’, and the term now means to advance or accumulate rapidly.
hard and fast
A ship that was hard and fast was simply one that was firmly beached on land. Has come to mean ‘rigidly adhered to – without doubt or debate’.
hard up
Hard is another often used nautical term. To put the helm hard over is to put it as far as it will go in that direction. Hard and fast describes a vessel firmly aground and unable to make progress and has come ashore to mean rigid. ‘Hard up in a clinch and no knife to cut the seizing’, the term from which hard up derives, was a sailor’s way of saying he had been overtaken by misfortune and saw no way of getting clear of it. Shore-side, the term means in need.
haze
Long before fraternal organizations, hazing was the practice of keeping the crew working all hours of the day or night, whether necessary or not, in order to deprive them of sleep and to make them generally miserable. In the 19th century, many captains used this practice to assert their authority. Hazing has come to mean the initiation of a newcomer to a group by humiliating and harassing him or her, thereby asserting the authority of the group.
hit the deck
The prudent thing to do when subjected to a French broadside… Not that Captain Aubrey would dream of doing it.
high and dry
This term originally referred to ships that were beached. The ‘dry’ implies that, not only were they out of the water, but had been for some time and could be expected to remain so.
hot chase
A principle of naval warfare, though without basis in law, that allowed a fleeing enemy to be followed into neutral waters and captured there if the chase had begun in international waters. The term hot pursuit derives from this ‘principle’.
Hunky dory:
OK; satisfactory
Derived from Honki-Dori, a street in the port of Yokohama, Japan, where many a pleasure awaited visiting sailors.
– I –
in the offing
This phrase is quite simple to understand once you know that ‘the offing’ is the part of the sea that can be seen from land, excluding those parts that are near the shore. Early texts also refer to it as ‘offen’ or ‘offin’. A ship that was about to arrive was “in the offing”, therefore imminent, which is how the phrase is used today.
idle/idler
Idler was the name for those members of a ship’s crew that did not stand night watch because of their work. Carpenters, sailmakers, cooks, etc. worked during the day and were excused from watch duty at night. They were called idlers, but not because they had nothing to do, simply because they were off duty at night.
– J –
junk
Old rope no longer able to take a load, it was cut into shorter lengths and used to make mops and mats. Land-side, junk is all that stuff in your garage you know you’ll need right after you throw it away.
jury rig
A temporary repair to keep a disabled ship sailing until it could make port, such as a jury sail erected when the mast was lost or a jury rudder as an emergency means of steering when the ship’s rudder was damaged.
– K –
keel hauling
A severe naval punishment during the 15th and 16th centuries. The victim, presumably a delinquent sailor, was dragged from one side of the boat to the other, under the bottom of the boat (keel). Tossed over one side and pulled up on the other, he was usually allowed to catch his breath before suddenly being tossed overboard again. Keel hauling lost favor at the beginning of the 18th century, to be replaced by the cat-o-nine-tails. The term still means a rough reprimand.
– L –
Learn the ropes:
Gain a skill
Young sailors were taught what each rope, rigging and knot was for aboard a ship. After ‘learning the ropes’, sailors would then ‘know the ropes’.
Let the cat out of the bag:
Reveal a secret
The cat (cat o’ nine tails), the whip used to flog sailors, was usually kept in a cloth bag.
leeway
The weather side of a ship is the side from which the wind is blowing. The Lee side is the side of the ship sheltered from the wind. A lee shore is a shore that is downwind of a ship. If a ship does not have enough “leeway” it is in danger of being driven onto the shore.
listless
When a ship was listless, she was sitting still and upright in the water, with no wind to make her lean over (list) and drive ahead.
long haul
Operation on ship requiring the hauling of a lot of line. Also seen in short haul, an operation requiring little line.
long shot
In old warships, the muzzle-loading cannon were charged with black powder of uncertain potency that would propel the iron shot an equally uncertain distance with doubtful accuracy. A 24-pounder long gun, for instance, was considered to have a maximum effective range of 1200 yards, even though, under the right conditions, a ball might travel some 3000 yards. Similarly, a short, stubby 32-pounder carronade’s lethality faded fast beyond 400 yards. Thus, the odds were against a hit when one fired a long shot.
loose cannon
A cannon having come loose on the deck of a pitching, rolling, and yawing deck could cause severe injury and damage. Has come to mean an unpredictable or uncontrolled person who is likely to cause unintentional damage.
– M –
mainstay
A stay that extends from the maintop to the foot of the foremast of a sailing ship. Currently, a thing upon which something is based or depends.
Make headway:
Progress in any activity
Forward motion of a sailing ship.
Make heavy weather of:
Make a task more difficult than it actually is
Ships struggled sailing against adverse winds and waves, making headway difficult.
Money for old rope:
Financial gain for very little
Sailors in port short of cash would sell lengths of old rope
– N –
no room to swing a cat
The entire ship’s company was required to witness flogging at close hand. The crew might crowd around so that the Bosun’s Mate might not have enough room to swing his cat o’ nine tails.
Nipper:
Young lad
Where the anchor cables on the largest sailing ships were too thick to bend around a capstan, they had thinner, messenger lines attached. Those thinner lines were joined, or ‘nipped’ to the thicker cables by young boys, who became known as ‘nippers’.
No great shakes:
No great value
When a cask became empty, it was taken to pieces, or ‘shaken’, so that it could be stored more easily in less space. The staves and hoops that made up a barrel, which on their own had no use (or value), were known as ‘shakes’.
– O –
on your beam ends
The beams here are the horizontal transverse timbers of ships. This phrase came about with the allusion to the danger of imminent capsize if the beam ends were touching the water. Currently means ‘to be in a bad situation’.
On an even keel:
Balanced
Provisions and cargo stowed in such a way so that the ship is balanced both port and starboard and fore and aft.
On the fiddle:
Gaining illegally
Fiddle was the name given to the raised rim on a sailor’s square wooden plate. Not only did the fiddle keep food on the plate, it marked the limit as to how much of a helping a sailor was entitled to. If his helping touched or overlapped the fiddle, therefore ‘on the fiddle’, a sailor was said to be ‘fiddling’, depriving another sailor of his share of food, which was an offence punishable by flogging.
over the barrel
The most common method of punishment aboard ship was flogging. The unfortunate sailor was tied to a grating, mast or over the barrel of a deck cannon.
overbearing
To sail downwind directly at another ship thus “stealing” or diverting the wind from his sails.
overhaul
To prevent the buntline ropes from chaffing the sails, crew were sent aloft to haul them over the sails. This was called overhauling.
overreach
If a ship holds a tack course too long, it has overreached its turning point and the distance it must travel to reach it’s next tack point is increased.
overwhelm
Old English for capsize or founder.
– P –
pipe down
A boatswain’s call denoting the completion of an all hands evolution, and that you can go below. It was the last signal from the Bosun’s pipe each day which meant “lights out” and “silence”.
pooped
The rearmost, highest deck of a sailing ship was called the poop deck. If a ship were unlucky enough to be overtaken by a massive, breaking sea which drenched her from astern, she was said to have been “pooped.” When you think about it, the sea and shore uses of the word aren’t that different: in both cases, you’re washed out.
…even worse, she lost some of her way at the bottom, whereas she needed all her speed to outrun the following seas, for if they were to overtake her she would be pooped, smothered in a mass of breaking water. Then ten to one she would slew round and broach to, presenting her broadside to the wind, so that the next sea would overwhelm her. – Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian
press into service
The British navy filled their ships’ crew quotas by kidnapping men off the streets and forcing them into service. This was called Impressment and was done by Press Gangs.
Pass with flying colours:
Substantial achievement
A fleet victorious in battle would sail into its home port with flags, or colours, flying from all masts. (see also nail one’s colours to the mast and show your true colours)
Piping hot:
Very hot
A boatswain would pipe a signal when meals were served.
Pull your finger out:
Hurry; get a move on
Cannons were primed with a small amount of gunpowder poured into an ignition hole. A sailor kept this powder in place with a finger, and was ordered to pull his finger out just before ignition.
Put a new slant on things:
Consider from a different perspective
The angle of sail was altered to compensate for changing wind conditions.
Put through the hoop:
Undergo an ordeal; rigorously test
Prior to battle hammocks were rolled tightly and lashed to a ship’s rails providing protection against shot and splinters. Sailors were required to pass their rolled hammocks through a regulation size hoop gauge to check them for tightness, and therefore effectiveness.
– R –
Rack and ruin:
Destroyed; severely damaged; wrecked
Rack is a variant of ‘wreck’, and then ‘wrack’, and describes the complete destruction of a ship.
Round robin:
Tournament in which every competitor plays each other in turn
The origins of this expression come from seventeenth century France, where ruban rond (‘round ribbon’) was the method of signing petitions on ribbons which were attached to documents in a circular manner so as not to reveal who signed the petition first. Similarly, British sailors signed petitions of grievances to resemble spokes of a wheel radiating form its hub so as to protect leaders’ identities.
Rummage sale:
Sale of second-hand, unclaimed or damaged items
Damaged or unclaimed cargo was sold in port in a rummage sale. Rummage derives from the French arrimage, meaning to stow cargo.
Rub salt into wounds:
Make a situation worse; aggravate; add insult to injury
Salt was used aboard naval vessels as a disinfectant, and was applied to wounds to prevent gangrene. The process of rubbing salt into wounds was extremely painful.
Run the gauntlet:
Risk being attacked or criticised from two or more sides
A form of punishment involving forcing a sailor to make his way between two rows of men, each armed with a rope cosh with which to hit the offender. ‘Gauntlet’ here derives not from glove, but is a corruption of the obsolete ‘gantlope’, which in turn derives from the Swedish ‘gata’ (lane) and ‘lopp’ (running course).
– S –
scuttlebutt
A butt was a barrel. Scuttle meant to chop a hole in something. The scuttlebutt was a water barrel with a hole cut into it so that sailors could reach in and dip out drinking water. The scuttlebutt was the place where the ship’s gossip was exchanged.
‘What are you a-thinking of, sir?’ cried his steward? ‘Don’t you see he is bleeding like a pig from under his bandage?’ Killick whipped into the quarter-gallery for a towel and thrust it under Dutuord’s head. ‘Now I must take all them covers off and soak them this directly minute in fresh cold water and there ain’t no cold fresh water, which the scuttle-butt is empty till Chips comes back and shifts the hand-pump.’ – The Wine-Dark Sea by Patrick O’Brian
ship-shape and bristol fashion
A reference to the precise nature of shipbuilding (and maintenance) as well as the exemplary work that came from Bristol shipyards.
shiver my (or me if you’re a pirate) timbers
One meaning of shiver, which is now largely forgotten, is ‘to break into pieces’. That meaning originated at least as early as the 14th century and is recorded in several Old English texts. So, the sailor’s oath shiver my timbers, is synonymous with (if so and so happens then…) let my boat break into pieces.
skylarking
Currently, To pass time by playing tricks or practical jokes; indulging in horseplay.
Yet the Surprise, lying there in the road, had three midshipmen aboard, and what they lacked in intelligence they made up for in physical activity. R_____, having but one arm, could no longer go skylarking, hurling himself about the upper rigging regardless of gravity, but his messmates N_____ and W_____ would hoist him by an easy purchase to astonishing heights, and from these, having still one powerful hand and legs that could twist around any rope, he would plunge with infinite satisfaction. He was at the masthead, negligently holding the starboard main topgallant shrouds with the intention of sliding straight down the whole length of the topgallant backstay, well over a hundred feet, when his eye, wandering towards San Lorenzo, caught the odd spectacle of a very small boat trying to tow a much larger one… – The Wine-Dark Sea by Patrick O’Brian
skyscraper
A small triangular sail set above the skysail in order to maximize effect in a light wind.
slush fund
A slushy slurry of fat was obtained by boiling or scraping the empty salted meat storage barrels. This stuff called “slush” was often sold ashore by the ship’s cook for the benefit of himself or the crew. The money so derived became known as a slush fund.
son of a gun
When in port, and with the crew restricted to the ship for any extended period of time, wives and ladies of easy virtue often were allowed to live aboard along with the crew. Infrequently, but not uncommonly, children were born aboard, and a convenient place for this was between guns on the gun deck. If the child’s father was unknown, they were entered in the ship’s log as “son of a gun”. Probably a sanitized version of “son of a bitch”, despite the various folk etymologies.
…both had been bred to the sea from their earliest years – Bonden, indeed, had been born between two of the Indefatigable’s lower-deck guns… – Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian
a square meal
In good weather, crews’ mess was a warm meal served on square wooden platters.
squared away
On square-rigged vessels, the state of the sails when properly trimmed. Currently, arranged or dealt with in a satisfactory manner.
Show a leg:
Wake up; get out of bed
Sailors were often refused shore leave whilst a ship was in port for fear that they might desert, particularly as many of them would have been pressed against their will into service. To compensate, civilian women (ostensibly wives) were allowed to live on board for the duration of the ship’s stay. In the mornings the boatswain’s mate called the hands with a shout of ‘Show a leg or a purser’s stocking’. If a woman’s leg appeared, she was to stay in the bunk until the men had left. The custom of women being allowed to stay on board visiting ships was abolished during the 1840s.
Sweet Fanny Adams / Sweet FA:
Nothing at all
Fanny Adams, aged about nine, was murdered in Alton, Hampshire in 1867. Her murderer, Frederick Baker, cut her up and left the pieces of her body in Deptford Victualling Yard. Tinned mutton was added to the diet of sailors at about this time, and became known as ‘Fanny Adams’, whilst ‘fanny’ became slang for a cooking pot.
Swing the lead:
Sailors would plumb the depths, measure the depth of water using a lead weight attached to a marked rope. A sailor bored with this task or lazy would sound off false readings, or if he wanted to waste a bit of time he may have pretended to take depth readings when it was not necessary.
– T –
taken aback
A dangerous situation where the wind is on the wrong side of the sails pressing them back against the mast and forcing the ship astern. Most often this was caused by an inattentive helmsman who had allowed the ship to head up into the wind.
taking the wind out of his sails
Sailing in a manner so as to steal or divert wind from another ship’s sails.
taking turns
Changing watches with the turn of the hour glass.
three sheets to the wind
A sheet is a rope line which controls the tension on the downwind side of a square sail. If, on a three masted fully rigged ship, the sheets of the three lower course sails are loose, the sails will flap and flutter and are said to be “in the wind”. A ship in this condition would stagger and wander aimlessly downwind.
tide over
At first glance, this would seem to be an obviously nautical term. Today it means to make a small bit of something, usually money, last until a supply comes in, as in borrowing some money to tide you over till payday. However, the meaning has changed over the years. Once upon a time, ships could move under sail power, or in the absence of wind, float along with the tide, called a tide over. One could say the floating would tide the ship over until wind came again to move it along.
toe the line
When called to line up at attention, the ship’s crew would form up with their toes touching a seam in the deck planking.
[Amos Dray] shaded his mouth with his hand and in a deep rumble whispered, ‘Toe the line, my dears.’
The two little pudding-faced twin girls in clean pinafores stepped forward to a particular mark on the carpet, and together, piping high and shrill, they cried, ‘Good morning, sir.’ – Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian
true colors
The current meaning, ‘to reveal yourself as you really are’, actually came about because of the opposite phrase “false colors” – from the 17th century referring to a vessel which sailed under a flag not her own. This tactic was used by almost everyone as a ruse de guerre, but the rules of gentlemanly behavior (and possibly actual legal rules) required one to raise one’s true colors before opening fire on another ship.
try a different tack
The direction in which a ship moves as determined by the position of its sails and regarded in terms of the direction of the wind (starboard tack). If one tack didn’t bring the ship up properly, one could always attempt another.
turn a blind eye
From Admiral Lord Nelson’s awesome display of badassery at the Battle of Copenhagen. When the signal was given to stop fighting, Nelson held his spyglass to his blind eye and insisted he didn’t see the signal. He then proceeded to kick butt, of course.
– U –
under the weather
Keeping watch onboard sailing ships was a boring and tedious job, but the worst watch station was on the “weather” (windward) side of the bow. The sailor who was assigned to this station was subject to the constant pitching and rolling of the ship. By the end of his watch, he would be soaked from the waves crashing over the bow. A sailor who was assigned to this unpleasant duty was said to be “under the weather.” Sometimes, these men fell ill and died as a result of the assignment, which is why today “under the weather” is used to refer to someone suffering from an illness. A related theory claims that ill sailors were sent below deck (or “under the weather”) if they were feeling sick.
– W –
warning shot across the bow
From the literal practice of firing a warning shot across another ship’s bow to encourage the captain to strike without engaging.
windfall
A sudden unexpected rush of wind from a mountainous shore which allowed a ship more leeway.
Some Naval Quotes –
1, Until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore – you will never know the terror of being forever lost at sea.
2, Every Seaman is not a navigator, but a Merchant as well as a solder be.
3, When at sea, one learns how little a person needs, not how much.
4, A ship is always referred to as SHE because it costs so much in paint and powder to maintain her looks.
5, It isn’t that life ashore is distasteful to me, but life at sea is better.
6, Wind to a Sailor is to what money is to life ashore.
7, Land was created to provide a place for sailors to visit.
8, 20 years from now, you will be disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did. So throw off your lines, sail away from the safety of land, catch the winds – go explore, dream and discover.
9, How lucky I am to have someone who it was so hard to say goodbye to