Comical Nautical Etymology :)

[Muffit]

Just got done watching what was truly a wonderful treat for me. My other love besides BSG is sailing history, particularly the remarkably beautiful lines of naval vessels throughout the ages. A history channel on TV spent all day showing nearly the whole drama of naval evolution, and I was so thrilled I abandoned my Dell the whole day!

What was the most fun was a brief treatment of how several of our very common colloquial expressions csme into being. They were so funny and revealing I thought I would share them with you all.

1) In the 1700's the British naval vessels were like floating bivouacs, holding enough food for good eating for 800+ men for up to 6 months. As a matter of naval standard, the largest meal was served at midday, on ample /square/ wooden plates, one to each sailor. This came to be called, "One square meal a day"...

2) At about the same time, it was decided that far too many sailors were going AWOL whenever they put into home port and were given leave. So for most of those years, no sailors were allowed to leave the ship, even when in port. Needless to say, that did not go over well with their wives. So, the British Navy magnanimously allowed the wives to share wedded bliss with their men right on the ships -- despite incredible overcrowding and zero privacy. The inevitable result was... births, right on the ship. One curious tradition was to have the woman placed between two cannon and, if she were having a difficult time with the birth, they would fire both of those cannon to help give her a little "push". The infant born in this way was called, logically, "A son of a gun"...

3) This last one wasn't mentioned, but knowing a bit of nautical history and general etymology myself, I imagine it is quite probable. A very rare word was used to describe the rear of a cannon, particularly in regards to how it was loaded -- muzzle loading (front), and breech loading (rear). Breech seems to have been rarely used elsewhere. Except -- once again, for births. It takes little guesswork to imagine that sailors would have called a rearward birth, "A breech baby".

LOL! Fun what you can learn without a computer these days!!! :laugh:

[thomas7g]

yup!

btw, those plates were square so they would store easy and not roll away. Essential when your rocking around with the waves.


Sailing men were oftened pressed into service. Literally a gang would go into town and kidnap a group of men to be foreced to serve on a ship. Eventually the ship would reach a port, but they couldn't let these men have shore leave caused they would never come back. So they brought them whores. The next morning, when it came time for mopping the deck they would call out for any men not "busy" with a girl to come out to work. If you were "busy" with a girl, you could indicate by sticking your leg out of your hammock and shaking it. Hence "Shake a leg".

[bsg1fan1975]

fascinating stuff. I knew a little bit of this as I am a history nut and where I live we are not far from a seaport that lets you on the old boats there to see what live was like back then.

[kitty]

I am also fascinated by history.
I have a few to add;
"room to swing a cat".
This colorful phrase evokes strange images of feline cruelty. In fact it has nothing to do with cats, but the real story is at least as cruel.
The "cat" is a cat-of-nine-tails. The cat-of-nine-tails has one handle to which is attached nine thin strips of leather, each perhaps three feet long. The cat-of-nine-tails would be used to administer lashings that would sting and leave welts on the recipient. The whippings would take place on the deck, because below deck there was not enough ceiling height to swing a cat-of-nine-tails.
Another to add;
"let the cat out of the bag".
This refered to the cat of nine tails which the Bosun would keep it in a bag, and would pull it out of the bag when needed.

One not to do with ships is "toddlers" Hundreds of years ago water was not fit to drink, so many drank ale, beer, cider or wine, as the process of making it sterilised it. As a baby, they got their fluids from their mothers milk, but then they are eventually weaned (around the time that they are walking), so moved on to ale etc, which made them toddle, until they got used to it.

[Muffit]

Wow! I didn't know these! Thanks all for adding your wonderful info!

[bsg1fan1975]

I didn't know about that additional bit of info. Very enlightening!