Three Sheets to the Wind

Have you ever noticed how many phrases in idiomatic English have their origins in nautical terms? What's that you say? You never considered it before? Well, consider it now! Here are some of my favorites.

• Three sheets to the wind -- a sheet is a rope that is attached to the corner of a sail, so if a sail has three of its sheets unattached to a mast or anything on deck (ie, to the wind), then it is going to be flapping about wildly and uncontrollably.
• Try a different tack -- in sailing, the word "tack," when used as a noun, refers to the side of the boat of ship that the wind comes over as the boat or ship is sailing. If it comes over the starboard side, then the boat or ship is said to be on the starboard tack; if it comes over the port or larboard side, then the boat or ship is said to be on the port or larboard tack. When a ship was trying to go in the direction of the wind, it would have to change from the starboard to the larboard tack every so often, with each course being several points (each point is 11.25 degrees) away from the direction that they were really trying to go. When a ship "tried a different tack," it would change direction by going from one tack to the other, a maneuver which, while routine, still entailed a number of risks for the ship.
  
• Taken aback --in sailing, when a gust of wind hits the sails in a direction opposite of the direction of travel. This has the effect of destroying a ship's headway, or forward momentum, and if the person sailing the ship is competent at all, is typically very surprising.
  
• The devil to pay -- in a wooden sailing vessel, the devil referred to any seam that it was particularly difficult to caulk, e.g. the seam in the planking at the waterline. "Paying" was the act of sealing a seam, so paying the devil was a particularly difficult task.
  
• Doldrums -- a region with typically very little wind around the equator. When a ship was in the Doldrums, it would frequently be becalmed for days on end roaming aimlessly one way and another.
  
• Jury-rigged -- when one or more of a boat or ship's masts and rigging were damaged by storms or enemy action, it was necessary for the crew to improvise new masts and rigging with whatever materials they had on hand. These improvisations were called jury rigging.
  
• Leeway -- a ship can sail in directions other than the direction that the wind is blowing toward by adjusting its sails. However, whenever it does so, the wind will also skid the ship to some degree in the direction of the wind. Leaving yourself plenty of leeway means giving yourself plenty of room when the wind is blowing towards shore to account for this force so that you don't wreck your ship.

There are many more, of course, and I may discuss them as I think of them in the future.