Nautical Expressions in Every Day Use

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

that's about concrete

Perhaps. But I bet you can't prove it.

[DaveOnCudjoe]

Cochineal was a prized comodity the Spainish imported from the New World and was the origin of a crimson dye. Crewmen who would hide contraban in those casks would often be caught "red handed" after retreaving their booty. Dave

[Mi2ndWind]

Howabout a term waayyyyyy overused these days.........Bail out

[dacust]

Originally Posted by DaveOnCudjoe

Cochineal was a prized comodity the Spainish imported from the New World and was the origin of a crimson dye. Crewmen who would hide contraban in those casks would often be caught "red handed" after retreaving their booty. Dave

I think being caught red-handed refers to having blood on your hands.

-dan

[David_Old_Jersey]

Anything Pirate related

Aaarrrghhh!

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Mi2ndWind

Howabout a term waayyyyyy overused these days.........Bail out

Bailout/bail out/bale out
World Wide Words: Bail out

[Mi2ndWind]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Bailout/bail out/bale out
World Wide Words: Bail out

" The figurative sense of getting somebody or something out of trouble (“the government had bailed the company out with the equivalent of 2.7 billion euros in aid”) probably comes from the legal sense, since it usually involves paying over money." ............with this interpretation of which sense of the meaning of "bail" applies to a financial "bail out". If a corporation is in financial trouble, it is referred to as "sinking" or "going under", you do not salvage a foundering vessel with a get out of jail free card.

[speakeasy]

Gangway
Making way
Weighing anchor
Way (Bevis and Butthead)
Bracing (against the wall in a passage to let an officer pass)

[Don1500]

"Ship shape and Bristol fashion"
"Crossing the 'T'". Meaning "A death blow", Not used very much, when you deliver a broadside to the stern or Bow of your enemy. They can't return fire (no guns to bare) and it is probably a death blow because each shot rakes the ship from "stem to stern" (another one). Many times in battle when a Captn. saw his opponent was going to cross the "T" on him he would raise the white flag rather than receive the broadside. This didn't always work. Drake was one to deliver the broadside anyway. (Nasty fellow)

[Don1500]

Originally Posted by Mi2ndWind

" The figurative sense of getting somebody or something out of trouble (“the government had bailed the company out with the equivalent of 2.7 billion euros in aid”) probably comes from the legal sense, since it usually involves paying over money." ............with this interpretation of which sense of the meaning of "bail" applies to a financial "bail out". If a corporation is in financial trouble, it is referred to as "sinking" or "going under", you do not salvage a foundering vessel with a get out of jail free card.

Perhaps even the term "Bail" out of jail originally came from the nautical term?

[BlueSeas]

Funny, was just thinking of this the other day as I was learning my nautical terms. The two that came to mind were:

Making headway and
Giving someone plenty of leeway

[mintyspilot]

For several centuries, Britain built its empire on sea-power and for quite some time british naval doctrine was that the Royal Navy should be bigger than the next two largest navies combined. That means lots of ships which means lots of men needed to run them. Many Britons served at sea so it is not surprising that English has a lot of nautical terms in it.

What about other languages?

The dutch, spanish and portugese also had extensive overseas possessions and to a lesser extent the french did as well. Having said that the french relied less on sea power than the british, spanish and dutch and even with my limited french I am not aware of nautical expressions in french.

What about asian languages? Many of the asian populations (India, China, etc) were inland and did not have (as far as I know) a seafaring tradition in european sense.


Can anybody enlighten me?

[Healer52]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

For several centuries, Britain built its empire on sea-power and for quite some time british naval doctrine was that the Royal Navy should be bigger than the next two largest navies combined. That means lots of ships which means lots of men needed to run them. Many Britons served at sea so it is not surprising that English has a lot of nautical terms in it.

What about other languages?

The dutch, spanish and portugese also had extensive overseas possessions and to a lesser extent the french did as well. Having said that the french relied less on sea power than the british, spanish and dutch and even with my limited french I am not aware of nautical expressions in french.

What about asian languages? Many of the asian populations (India, China, etc) were inland and did not have (as far as I know) a seafaring tradition in european sense.


Can anybody enlighten me?

Dinghy is Indian.
Sloop is Dutch. So is Schooner, according to some. The Dutch had near total control of the sea for a couple of centuries, and did a lot of exploration, until they fell in with the Spaniards and lost it all in the English Channel (the Spanish Armada).

[Hirophant]

I don't think spick and span is nautical, the OED lists it as coming from an Old Norse expression unrelated to the nautical word span.

[SabreKai]

The ones I hear most are 'steady as she goes' around the office and 'scuttled', usually in reference to the final outcome of another brilliant idea from the head shed.

I'm also pretty sure that bail out, used as it is today comes from the early days of aviation, when you hit the silk rather than ride the crate into the ground. Makes sense too, when you consider TARP was a golden parachute to keep the buggers from augering in.




Sabre