The Origins of Nautical Sayings

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by GreatKetch

It's only relatively recently that English speaking sailors realized that Larboard and Starboard sound a lot alike, and shifted to useing "PORT" for the left side of the boat.

A lot of English words are taken from foreign words - 'port' is no exception; it comes from the French word for 'door'. In those boats with the rudder (steering board) on the starboard side, it was desirable to load cargo on the port side, so as to keep the rudder clear. Larboard came from lade-board (the side for lading or loading).

[Shu]

Originally Posted by Therapy

What does "AARRRR" (sp?) mean?

Therapy...
I believe it means "My grog is gone"
"I'm drunk"
"You're a dead man" (I'm gonna kill you)
"You've pissed me off now"
"My peg leg is stuck in a hole"
"Aye Aye Cap'n"
"Woman...more food"
"My head hurts" (hung over)
"Someone stole my boat"
"Where's my cutless"
and so on....

[scotte]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

A lot of English words are taken from foreign words - 'port' is no exception; it comes from the French word for 'door'. In those boats with the rudder (steering board) on the starboard side, it was desirable to load cargo on the port side, so as to keep the rudder clear. Larboard came from lade-board (the side for lading or loading).

Interesting... The French word for port is "babord" and starboard is "triboard". I wonder where the etymology forked on that?

[JohnT]

“Balls-up”

Derived from the nautical signal used when a ship was aground (three balls raised) to let other ships not suffer the same fate. Still a signal used today.


John

[Amgine]

According to Smythe (The Sailor's Word Book 1867) the terms are descended from Italian questa borda ("this side") and quella borda ("that side"), abbreviated sta borda and la borda. Their similarity caused so many errors in the British Royal Navy that the Admiralty ordered the use of 'port'. Earliest use of 'port' Smythe reports is Arthur Pit's voyage, 1580.

OED shows laddeborde in the 1300s, latebord 1495, lerbord and larborde by 1583. Steorbord is in use at 893, however, and stere-bourde or stere-burde by 1495 and through the 1600s. Examining the morphs in english is not greatly useful, however, as stere meant to burn or offer incense, while steor meant a rudder or helm by itself and borde could mean a shilling though more commonly a side or course. (I do have access to various dictionaries of earlier dialects, but not the requisite knowledge to use them accurately.) Port, as a side of a ship or adjective, is first reported in 1543 by the High Court of Admiralty.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by JohnT

“Balls-up”
Derived from the nautical signal used when a ship was aground (three balls raised) to let other ships not suffer the same fate. Still a signal used today.
John

Sounds good, but can you quote a source?

[JohnT]

Gord,

Sorry, no source to quote other than what has been passed down to me verbally by old sea dogs. First heard it when I was a youngster and have heard the term many times over the years, all equating it to the day signals of the old sailing ships.

John

[dacust]

Originally Posted by Shu

Therapy...
I believe it means "My grog is gone"
"I'm drunk"
"You're a dead man" (I'm gonna kill you)
"You've pissed me off now"
"My peg leg is stuck in a hole"
"Aye Aye Cap'n"
"Woman...more food"
"My head hurts" (hung over)
"Someone stole my boat"
"Where's my cutless"
and so on....

Well done. I like it when someone comes back with thorough research. I won't even demand references as I think the accuracy of your definition is irrefutable.

-dan

[bstreep]

Ah, my favorite is:

"It's your turn in the barrel"

[NW Craig]

Originally Posted by Therapy

What does "AARRRR" (sp?) mean?

Arrr! - This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, "yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team is going to win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!

source: International Talk Like A Pirate Day

c :cubalibre

[DWT]

Back in my days of being an apprentice carpenter, I was working with a guy much older than me, he was kind of teaching me the trade.

We were paint the exterior of a house and as he walked by he says to me " Hey, no holidays". I did'nt know what the heck he was talking about so I asked. He said you miss a spot. I asked him where he got that from(I had never heard of it before) and he said, while he was in the navy.

I've been told that it is a nautical term from way back.......

Any one else ever hear of this?

[Amgine]

Smyth, Sailor's Word Book 1867:

HOLIDAY. Any part left neglected or uncovered in paying or painting, blacking, or tarring.

(Was still in use when I was in the USN, early 80s.)

[dacust]

Originally Posted by bstreep

Ah, my favorite is:

"It's your turn in the barrel"

If you are posting a new term, yes, that's a great one. But if you are posting another translation of "Arrr!", then strictly speaking, I'm not sure that is correct.

"It's your turn in the barrel" would be said "Arrrgh".

"Arrr!" would be the response to that...

-dan

[Chief Engineer]

Your turn in the Barrel.

Didn't they put Nelson in a Barrel?

Sounds like a threat

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by Amgine

According to Smythe (The Sailor's Word Book 1867) the terms are descended from Italian questa borda ("this side") and quella borda ("that side"), abbreviated sta borda and la borda. Their similarity caused so many errors in the British Royal Navy that the Admiralty ordered the use of 'port'. Earliest use of 'port' Smythe reports is Arthur Pit's voyage, 1580.

I think Smythe had it wrong in so many ways. The word is bordo, not borda and it's masculine, so questa and quella (which are feminine) would not be used - it would be questo bordo and quello bordo. Not that it matters, Italians use Tribordo and babordo. Nice story though.