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Joined: Aug 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Line Honors An Australian term for being the first yacht to finish in an ocean going race.
¿Qué? I was of the impression that line honours was the standard term for it, not simply an Australian term. I have heard it used in British commentary for the race at Cowes, and it is of course routinely heard in connexion with the various round-the-world races. It recognises the fact that the boats may be in different size classes, so the boat that crosses first may not win, on handicap.
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Rocks and shoals
In my day the lifers, when they wanted to stress how bad it used to be, and how we were such wimps for complaining, would assault us with tales of life in the Old Navy under the Rocks and Shoals. That was the slang term for the rules that preceded the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under the UCMJ the common sailor has some rights and can't be taken out and shot at the whim of the Captain. Whenever I see some innocent youngster tromping around in some article of clothing with Old Navy stamped all over it I think of the old days under the Rocks and Shoals and wonder all over again why someone would be proud of it.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The good old days of iron men in wooden ships, versus todays iron ships and wooden men.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Scuttlebutt.
A scuttle is an opening in a hatch or the side of a ship to admit air. In the olden days, they kept the drinking water in a cask - a butt - on deck, with a hole - a scuttle - cut in its side. Sailors gathered around the scuttlebutt to drink, and naturally watercooler talk ensued. Hence, "scuttlebutt" came to refer to gossip.
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
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scud or scudding-- to move swifty
scudding to to run before a gale-- white sails in a scudding race with the clouds..--
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The sheet anchor - in bygone days- was carried in the waist (between the forecastle and quarterdeck) and was the largest anchor and was always ready for use in an emergency. The term came to mean "security" among seamen.
There is a rare but extraordinary book called "The Young Officer's Sheet Anchor" which was often given to young officers setting out on their first voyage.
It contains, among other things, sail settings for various situations and was an invaluable guide for men in ships under sail.
wow
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 544
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 544 |
Recalled a few more great nautical terms (and, Mr. Youngbalt, if you're a Hornblower fan, do be sure you've read the Patrick O'Brian series as well - different, but equally good).
One of my favorites, still in circulation today in non-nautical parlance, but of nautical origin is "slush fund." Slush was the fat used by the ship's cook for frying, etc. - and was considered quite a delicacy. "Slush fund" may have evolved a couple of ways - either that the cook could essentially use the slush as money, buying things from the crew in exchange for slush for their bread - a real treat in the days of salpork and dried peas. Or the cook actually had a fund of money, to be used in port to procure slush and other necessities specific to the cook - but which could end up being used somewhat flexibly, should the cook need to procure something else. In either case, it means a resource, not monitored by the powers that be, that can be used to acquire things outside of the official manner. There's a vary brief, colorul discussion of this in one of Patrick O'Brian's novels, but, alas, they are all stowed belowdecks in preparation for my family weighing anchor and setting a course for our new house.
Handsomely, used at sea or by seaman, does in fact mean slowly, with a connotation of carefully as well.
Another favorite, which I tried to use in day-to-day parlance for a while, but which failed to take, is "light along." It means "bring me" as in "light along my best glass, there's a ship hull-up [meaning hull is visible, so it's fairly close] on the horizon." It also means to help out in hauling on lines of various sorts.
Speaking of lines - we discussed sheets, etc. - there are actually quite a few different types of lines.
sheets - line used to haul sails
shrouds - main lines used in the rigging
ratlines - short horizontal lines used in the rigging - usually made of rope covered in tar
braces - line attached to the end of a yard (horizontal beam off the mast), used to swing the sail
cable - anchor line - cut to a standard length, and thus also used as a unit of measure (100 fathoms)
hawser - heaviest line, I believe
That's all I've got for now.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Cool, Hyla, thanks! 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Max wrote :I was of the impression that line honours was the standard term for it, not simply an Australian term.
In my Mariner's Dictionary it is spelled Line Honours. When I posted I wrote Honors ...ooops!
Could the spelling make a difference?
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