bight - 11/21/05 06:42 PM
I was glad to see the word 'bight' turn up as a Word-a-Day subject. Another meaning, common among fans of knot-tying, is a loop making up an element of a knot.
Re: bight - 11/22/05 12:14 AM
It has been a long time since my naval training but I clearly recall using the term bight to refer to a loop made in the middle of a line. It could be another one of those ancient nautical words, eh?
Re: bight - 11/22/05 07:09 AM
"The Bowline on a Bight is used to make a pair of fixed-size loops in a line. This knot can be used to make an emergency bowswain's chair to go up the mast or bring an injured person aboard, or serve as a towing bridle. The benefits of the bowline are in its loop that will not slip, and in its ability to be untied after being exposed to a strain."
More than you ever wanted to know about knots
More than you ever wanted to know about knots
Re: bight - 11/22/05 10:13 AM
great site, Padre, thanks. wish they would pause just a bit at the end of the animations, though.
Re: bight - 11/23/05 12:53 PM
Speaking of nautical terms, how did "sheets" come to mean "ropes"?
Re: bight - 11/23/05 03:34 PM
Quote:
Speaking of nautical terms, how did "sheets" come to mean "ropes"?
sheet rates two headwords in OED2, for which the second goes something like this:
[OE. scéata wk. masc., having the meanings of OE. scéat (see SHEET n.1), also = lower corner of a sail, ‘pes veli’; in comb. scéatlíne ‘propes’ (see Wr.-Wülcker 183/26 and 288/24) = MLG. schôtlîne, in which sense the simple word is recorded from the 14th c. For the cognate forms and their meanings see SHEET n.1; cf. SHOOT n.2]
anticipating a bit:
three sheets in the wind: very drunk.
a sheet in the wind (or wind's eye) is used occas. = half drunk.
comment: if you're numerically inclined you're prolly thinking, shouldn't half-drunk be a sheet and a half?
Re: bight - 11/23/05 09:21 PM
Hey, Y'all,
Was delighted to see bight as AWAD!! I've only heard one person use this word... an aging Irishman who was trying to perfect my seat on a horse at a riding stable in Massachusetts. "If you're right-handed, the bight from both reins should fall on the horse's right shoulder." When seeing my confusion he raised his voice and spoke slowly as one might speak to a naughty child, "The BIGHT, Lass, the BIGHT!!" He explained that he was referring to the extra rein leathers that come out of the top of your hand, (as opposed to the reins entering the bottom of the hand come directly from the bits in the horse's mouth.) I must have had a good 5 foot loop of snaffle rein and even more of the curb as I recall being overwhelmed by flapping leathers getting caught on my feet or wedged under my knees. Nowadays I ride with a single rein much more in proportion to the horse with a scant 3 foot loop of bight. Thanks for prompting my trip down memory lane.
Was delighted to see bight as AWAD!! I've only heard one person use this word... an aging Irishman who was trying to perfect my seat on a horse at a riding stable in Massachusetts. "If you're right-handed, the bight from both reins should fall on the horse's right shoulder." When seeing my confusion he raised his voice and spoke slowly as one might speak to a naughty child, "The BIGHT, Lass, the BIGHT!!" He explained that he was referring to the extra rein leathers that come out of the top of your hand, (as opposed to the reins entering the bottom of the hand come directly from the bits in the horse's mouth.) I must have had a good 5 foot loop of snaffle rein and even more of the curb as I recall being overwhelmed by flapping leathers getting caught on my feet or wedged under my knees. Nowadays I ride with a single rein much more in proportion to the horse with a scant 3 foot loop of bight. Thanks for prompting my trip down memory lane.
Re: bight - 11/23/05 10:18 PM
>shouldn't half-drunk be a sheet and a half?
well sure..
"A thought tipsy--a sheet or so in the wind, as folks say."
- Anthony Trollope, Orley Farm
for more on sails vs. ropes as sheets
well sure..
"A thought tipsy--a sheet or so in the wind, as folks say."
- Anthony Trollope, Orley Farm
for more on sails vs. ropes as sheets
Re: bight - 11/24/05 11:05 AM
Welcome aBoard Casacontento. De nada for the memories! 
Re: bark worse than bight - 11/24/05 11:15 AM
snaffle rein and curb?
welcome, C!
welcome, C!
Re: bark worse than bight - 11/24/05 11:33 PM