Chewing the fat.

Right on the money GORD. As for reasoning, The old diesel smoked like hell when headed in with a load of fish.
As for the poop deck, I buy Talbot's definition, as the ship's officers used the equivilent of a bucket. A luxury no afforded the rest of the crew. I am sure it was a crewmans duty to empty it as well.
How about "scuttlebutt"?

[Alan Wheeler]

The cask that held the water the crew drank from was called the Skuttlebutt. Because everyone congregated around that area, rumours of and about the voyage would tend to start from there. So hence to day, "Skuttlebutt" is a term for rumours and gossip.

OK, here's a name of a part of a vessel.
What is the ships "Brake"??

Funny you would ask me that
It is the handle on a bilge pump.
I guess the "Cat's out of the bag"
Go for it

[Alan Wheeler]

Hmmmm, not sure how the term originated. But the "Cat" is the Tackle that hoisted the Anchor up to the "Cat-head". The Cat-head were large timbers projecting from the side of the vessel used to secure the anchor. I wonder if the the "Cat" was stored in a bag??
OK, what's the story about it Kai Nui?

I am "Feeling Blue" not being able to get that one

[Talbot]

I wonder if the the "Cat" was stored in a bag??

The Cat Of Nine Tails was definitely kept in a bag.

[Alan Wheeler]

That's it, I remember that one now. It was indeed the Cat of nine tails. It was kept in a bag and was taken out just before it was to be used and no sooner. So when the "Cat was out of the bag" the trouble was about to begin.

You got it Talbot I guess that is not really nautical in origin, so it was cheating a bit.
Feeling blue comes from the tradition of flying a blue flag on return to port id the captain was lost during the voyage.

[Alan Wheeler]

What about that Aristocratic Englishmans comment, "talley on ole chaps"???
Hint--- it's got nothing to do with a Brit asking if anyones watching Coronation street. Ummmm, some of you US guy's may not get that one.

[nockerwhite]

Surely that was 'Tally-ho' the call from the hunting field.
What about 'payment on the nail' and 'a green rub'?

[Talbot]

I suspect the "green rub" was probably an allusion to being tasked with cleaning brasswork that had been neglected too long. The first part of the cleaning was to get the tarnish off and that often showed on the cloth as green and was the most difficult part of the process.

a green rub cause the job was harder than it should have been

[Alan Wheeler]

Nockerwhiteyour correct. That's what happens when you are 12000miles from England
Talley-on was the command given to a team of sailors on the end of a line, such as halyard or sheet or tackle, to start hauling the rope.

[Weyalan]

Vis a vis "rub of the green":

I have heard it argued that this expression has no nautical origin per se, but in fact comes from the sport of lawn bowls. Lawn bowls is, obviously, played on a grass surface (this is known as a "bowling green", probably from the old english village-green which is a communal grassy area in the centre of the village, used for festivals, fetes, dances, etc.)

The green would, as a rule, not be absolutely perfectly flat...each green would have its own little idiosyncracies - slope to one end, or slight hollows or mounds, even the way the grass had been cut - these peculiarities were known as "the rub of the green". Obviously, such peculiarities could either hinder or help the bowler, depending on the circumstances - sometimes one might actually benefit, sometimes not.So, when playing, is some vagary of the slope or nap of the playing surface actually helped a bowler, they would be said to "have the rub of the green".

[nockerwhite]

'Green rub' I believe is derived from a sneaking feeling that the starboard watch always seemed to get the worst jobs - an old RN saying. What about payment 'on the nail'?

This refers to a practice of putting the money for a deal on an iron post till the deal was done. Irish tradition.
At least, that's how I heard it.
How about nailing the colors to the mast?

[nockerwhite]

Quote -
"The Bristol nails are late medieval artefacts, cast in bronze, standing about four feet high and situated outside the Corn Exchange in Bristol. The corn traders settled their deals over the nails leading to the phrase "Cash on the Nail". In the 1930's my father was called upon to restore one of the nails. "
I thought the Nail was on Bristol dockside - sorry.

What about 'shipshape and Bristol fashion' and 'sling your hook!'?

I assume that 'nailing one's colours to the mast' was done in a sea battle so that their ensign could not be either accidentally or deliberately struck (ie. lowered).