It's not today's word, but the intro says "ships flounder". Some will object that the correct term is founder. My Merriam-Webster gives "founder" as "2. to give way : collapse; 3. to become submerged : sink; 4. to come to grief : fail" with the first instance 14th century. "Flounder" on the other hand is "1: to struggle to move or obtain footing : thrash about wildly; 2: to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually" and notes that its origin is probably an alteration of founder. Since M-W cites flounder's first known use this way as 1592, it can't be said to be a new coinage; however, some users note that under these definitions, founder more accurately describes a ship's behavior.