List of nautical metaphors

Thanks to the historical importance of seafaring in British culture, the English language is rich in related metaphors from the age of sail. Some examples are:

• I like the cut of your jib used to characterise the way a person looks, sailors would recognise the nationality of other ships by the shape of the triangular forsesail (or Jib).^[1]
• Taken aback, on a square-rigger the sails were 'taken aback' when the wind was blowing on the wrong side of the sails causing a dangerous situation. Later used to indicate a difficult or unexpected situation.^[2]
• Batten down the hatches
• Clear the decks to get everything out of the way as a warship went into action.^[3]
• Show someone the ropes to show or explain to someone how to do a task or operation. Taken from the use of ropes to orient and adjust the sails.
• Sail close to the wind is to operate hazardously on very slim margins, usually applied in a financial sense. Derived from the technique of sailing close to the direction of the oncoming wind.
• Loaded to the gunwales
• Back and fill
• On one's beam ends
• Awash
• Nail one's colours to the mast
• Flying the flag
• Plain sailing
• With flying colours - the colours was the national flag flown at sea during battle, a ship would surrender by lowering the colours and the term is now used to indicate a triumphant victory or win.^[4]
• In the doldrums
• All hands to the pumps
• Weathering a storm
• A different tack
• Swinging the lead is to avoid duty by feigning illness or injury, original a confusion between Swing the leg which related to the way dogs can run on three legs to gain sympathy and the sailor's term heaving the lead which was to take soundings. ^[5]
• Left high and dry
• May the wind always be at your back and may you have following seas
• Three sheets to the wind, meaning "staggering drunk," refers to a ship whose sheets have come loose, causing the sails to flap uncontrolled and the ship to meander at the mercy of the elements. Also, "Three sheets in the wind, unsteady from drink."^[6]
• Sun over the yardarm: This phrase is widely used, both afloat and ashore, to indicate that the time of day has been reached at which it is acceptable to have lunch or (more commonly) to have an alcoholic beverage.
• Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey was said to refer to a tray on which cannonballs were stored, but this story has been discredited, according to the linked article.
• "Take soundings": In suspected shallow waters, a crewmember may have the task of repeatedly throwing into the water a lead line, or piece of lead tied to a string knotted every fathom, for the purpose of estimating the depth of the sea.^[7] This saying the nautical equivalent of "Take the lay of the land": see how things are going, or see what people think about a proposed course of action.^{[citation needed]}
• "Son of a gun" may have referred to a boy born aboard ship during the age of sail-power. Although technically never allowed, women were not infrequently aboard British ships during at least some of their voyages (these women included both wives and prostitutes). One theory holds that "son of a gun" was entered into the official log of the ship in cases of questionable or uncertain paternity. Another theory holds that the guns themselves occasionally aided in the birthing process by "kicking" the bulkhead against a woman's back. This theory holds that any boy born in such a manner was a son of a gun.^{[citation needed]}
• "All set" is derived from setting lobster traps, commonly used to denote a completed task.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Glossary of nautical terms

References

1. ^ Jeans, p. 169
2. ^ Jeans, p. 1
3. ^ Jeans, p. 87
4. ^ Jeans, p. 73
5. ^ Jeans, p. 185
6. ^ Smyth, William Henry; Belcher, Edward (1867). The sailor's word-book: An alphabetical digest of nautical terms, including some more especially military and scientific ... as well as archaisms of early voyagers, etc.. London: Blackie and Son. pp. 680, 121. http://books.google.com/books?id=y7HqO9XAwk8C&dq=sailor%20beached%20-beaches&lr&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is&num=100&as_brr=4&pg=PA121#v=onepage&q=both%20sheets%20aft&f=false. 
7. ^ "Regulation 34 - Safe Navigation". IMO RESOLUTION A.893(21) adopted on 25 November 1999. https://mcanet.mcga.gov.uk/public/c4/solas/solas_v/Regulations/regulation34.htm. Retrieved March 26, 2007. 

• Jeans, Peter D (1998). Ship to Shore. Oxford, England: ABC-Clio. ISBN 1 85109 321 4. 

Further reading

• Isil, Olivia A. (1966). When a loose cannon flogs a dead horse there's the devil to pay: seafaring words in everyday speech. Camden ME: International Marine. ISBN 9780070328778. 
• Miller, Charles A. (2003). Ship of state: the nautical metaphors of Thomas Jefferson : with numerous examples by other writers from classical antiquity to the present. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. ISBN 9780761825166. 
• Milligan, Christopher S.; Smith, David C. (1997). "Language from the Sea: Discovering the Meaning and Origin of Nautical Metaphors". English Quarterly 28 (4): 36–40. 
• Naval Air Station Jacksonville (1942). "Service Jargon". 9780070328778A-V(S) Indoctrination School. Department of the Navy. http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/indoc_term.htm. Retrieved June 17, 2010.