Minuteman
06/15/2006, 10:58 AM
Knot
The term knot, or nautical mile, is used world-wide to denote one's speed through water. Today, we measure knots with electronic devices, but 200 years ago such devices were unknown.
Ingenious marines devised a speed measuring device both easy to use and reliable, the "log line." From this method we get the term "Knot." The log line was a length of twine marked at 47.33-foot intervals by colored knots. At one end a log chip was fastened. It was shaped like the sector of a circle and weighted at the rounded end with lead. When thrown over the stern, it would float pointing upward and would remain relatively stationary. The log line was allowed to run free over the side for 28 seconds and then hauled on board. Knots which had passed over the side were counted. In this way, the ships speed was measured.
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Sickbay
In the days of sailing ships, it was customary to uncover when entering sick bay, out of respect to the dying and dead. Through modern medicine the sickbay has transformed into a place where people are usually healed and cured, so the custom remains. As in any hospital, silence is maintained.
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Bamboozle
In today's Navy, when you intentionally deceive someone, usually as a joke, you are said to have bamboozled them. The word was used in the days of sail also, but the intent was not hilarity. Bamboozle meant to deceive a passing vessel as to your ship's origin or nationality by flying an ensign other than your own -- a common practice of pirates.
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Jack
The Jack is a replica of the blue, star-studded field of the National Ensign that is flown by ships at anchor from 8 a.m. to sunset. The Jack is hoisted at a yardarm when a general court-martial or a court of inquiry is in session. It is half-masted if the Ensign is half-masted, but it is not dipped when the Ensign is dipped.
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Chit
One tradition carried on in the Navy is the use of the word "chit." It is a carry over from the days when Hindu traders used slips of paper called "citthi" for money, so they wouldn't have to carry heavy bags of gold and silver. British sailors shortened the word to chit and applied it to their mess vouchers.
Its most outstanding use in the Navy today is for drawing pay and a form used for requesting leave and liberty, and special requests. But the term is currently applied to almost any piece of paper from a pass to an official letter requesting some privilege.
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Mind Your P's & Q's
There are few of us who at one time or another have not been admonished to "mind our P's and Q's," or in other words, to behave our best. Oddly enough, "mind your P's and Q's" had nautical beginnings as a method of keeping books on the waterfront.
In the days of sail when Sailors were paid a pittance, seamen drank their ale in taverns whose keepers were willing to extend credit until payday. Since many salts were illiterate, keepers kept a tally of pints and quarts consumed by each Sailor on a chalkboard behind the bar. Next to each person's name, a mark was made under "P" for pint or "Q" for quart whenever a seaman ordered another draught.
On payday, each seaman was liable for each mark next to his name, so he was forced to "mind his P's and Q's" or he would get into financial trouble. To ensure an accurate count by unscrupulous keepers, Sailors had to keep their wits and remain somewhat sober. Sobriety usually ensured good behavior, hence the meaning of "mind your P's and Q's."
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Bully Boys
Bully boys, a term prominent in Navy shanties and poems, means in its strictest sense, "beef eating Sailors." Sailors of the Colonial Navy had a daily menu of an amazingly elastic substance called bully beef, actually beef jerky. The term appeared so frequently on the messdeck that it naturally lent its name to the sailors who had to eat it. As an indication of the beef's texture and chewability, it was also called "salt junk," alluding to the rope yarn used for caulking the ship's seams.
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Side Boys
Side boys are a part of the quarterdeck ceremonies when an important person or Officer comes on board or leaves a ship. Large ships have side boys detailed to the quarterdeck from 0800 to sunset. When the side is piped by the BMOW, from two to eight side boys, depending on the rank of the Officer, will form a passageway at the gangway. They salute on the first note of the pipe and finish together on the last note.
In the days of sail, it was not uncommon for the Commanding Officers of ships sailing in convoy to convene aboard the flagship for conferences. It was also not uncommon for COs to invite each other to dine aboard their vessels. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to bring visitors on and off a ship while underway. And there was no dignified may for a high ranking officer to scurry up or down a rope ladder hanging down the side of a ship.
Often the boatswain's chair, a rope and wood sling, would be used to hoist the guest onto and off the ship. The Boatswain's Mate would control the heaving by blowing the appropriate commands with a whistle known as a Boatswain's Pipe. The number of "strong backs" needed to bring the visitor aboard depended upon the size of the "load" being hoisted. Somewhere along the line, it was noted that the more senior the visitor's rank, the more Sailors were needed to "man the side." Over time, the need to hoist visitors onto and off of Navy ships went away, but the custom of mustering the Sideboys and piping distinguished visitors aboard ship remains.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carry On
In the days of sail, the Officer of the Deck kept a weather eye constantly on the slightest change in wind, so sails could be reefed or added as necessary to ensure the fastest headway. Whenever a good breeze came along, the order to "carry on" would be given. It meant to hoist every bit of canvas the yards could carry. Pity the poor Sailor whose weather eye failed him and the ship was caught partially reefed when a good breeze arrived.
Through the centuries the term's connotation has changed somewhat. Today, the Bluejackets Manual defines "carry on" as an order to resume work -- work not so grueling as two centuries ago.
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Church Pennant
The Church Pennant is the only flag ever flown over the National Ensign at the same point of hoist. It is displayed during church services conducted by a Chaplain, both ashore and afloat.
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Eyes of the Ship
Most of the early ships had heads of mythological monsters or patrons carved in the bow; hence, the terms "figure head," "the heads" and the term "eyes of the ship" followed from the eyes of the figures placed there. Large "eyes" are still painted on the bows of Chinese junks.
Sailors also believe that these "eyes" help them and their ship through a storm by magically seeing the right of way. One particular Sailor's tale says that on the day before he was to sail, he bought his wife two beautiful, green emeralds for earrings. He was heartbroken when she did not like them, so instead he used them as the eyes of the female "figure head" on the bow of his ship.
His wife had a change of heart that night, and unbeknownst to her husband, removed the emeralds from the wooden figure. She planned to wear them upon his return, but he never did. One day after sailing, his ship steered right into a typhoon and sank. Some say it was because the ship could not "see" as his wife had stolen the ship's "eyes." When the wife heard the news, she cried for days until she fell asleep. When she awoke, she was blind...and the two beautiful emeralds had disappeared.
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Cut of His Jib
In the days of sailing ships, nationality and rigs could often be distinguished by their jibs. A Spanish ship, for example, had a small jib or none at all. Large French ships often had two jibs and English ships normally had only one.
From ships, the phrase was extended to apply to men. The nose, like the jib of a ship arriving in harbor, is the first part of the person to arrive at a designated place. Figuratively, it implies the first impression one makes on another person.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"To Be Three Sheets in the Wind"
In the days of sailing ships, this is a phrase which refers to the lines used to control the sails of sailing vessels. When these sheets are cast to the wind (let go), it would cause the old sailing ships to shudder and stagger. The resulting track would be the same as that of a drunken Sailor, out of control, and hence "three sheets in the wind."
The term knot, or nautical mile, is used world-wide to denote one's speed through water. Today, we measure knots with electronic devices, but 200 years ago such devices were unknown.
Ingenious marines devised a speed measuring device both easy to use and reliable, the "log line." From this method we get the term "Knot." The log line was a length of twine marked at 47.33-foot intervals by colored knots. At one end a log chip was fastened. It was shaped like the sector of a circle and weighted at the rounded end with lead. When thrown over the stern, it would float pointing upward and would remain relatively stationary. The log line was allowed to run free over the side for 28 seconds and then hauled on board. Knots which had passed over the side were counted. In this way, the ships speed was measured.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sickbay
In the days of sailing ships, it was customary to uncover when entering sick bay, out of respect to the dying and dead. Through modern medicine the sickbay has transformed into a place where people are usually healed and cured, so the custom remains. As in any hospital, silence is maintained.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bamboozle
In today's Navy, when you intentionally deceive someone, usually as a joke, you are said to have bamboozled them. The word was used in the days of sail also, but the intent was not hilarity. Bamboozle meant to deceive a passing vessel as to your ship's origin or nationality by flying an ensign other than your own -- a common practice of pirates.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack
The Jack is a replica of the blue, star-studded field of the National Ensign that is flown by ships at anchor from 8 a.m. to sunset. The Jack is hoisted at a yardarm when a general court-martial or a court of inquiry is in session. It is half-masted if the Ensign is half-masted, but it is not dipped when the Ensign is dipped.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chit
One tradition carried on in the Navy is the use of the word "chit." It is a carry over from the days when Hindu traders used slips of paper called "citthi" for money, so they wouldn't have to carry heavy bags of gold and silver. British sailors shortened the word to chit and applied it to their mess vouchers.
Its most outstanding use in the Navy today is for drawing pay and a form used for requesting leave and liberty, and special requests. But the term is currently applied to almost any piece of paper from a pass to an official letter requesting some privilege.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mind Your P's & Q's
There are few of us who at one time or another have not been admonished to "mind our P's and Q's," or in other words, to behave our best. Oddly enough, "mind your P's and Q's" had nautical beginnings as a method of keeping books on the waterfront.
In the days of sail when Sailors were paid a pittance, seamen drank their ale in taverns whose keepers were willing to extend credit until payday. Since many salts were illiterate, keepers kept a tally of pints and quarts consumed by each Sailor on a chalkboard behind the bar. Next to each person's name, a mark was made under "P" for pint or "Q" for quart whenever a seaman ordered another draught.
On payday, each seaman was liable for each mark next to his name, so he was forced to "mind his P's and Q's" or he would get into financial trouble. To ensure an accurate count by unscrupulous keepers, Sailors had to keep their wits and remain somewhat sober. Sobriety usually ensured good behavior, hence the meaning of "mind your P's and Q's."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bully Boys
Bully boys, a term prominent in Navy shanties and poems, means in its strictest sense, "beef eating Sailors." Sailors of the Colonial Navy had a daily menu of an amazingly elastic substance called bully beef, actually beef jerky. The term appeared so frequently on the messdeck that it naturally lent its name to the sailors who had to eat it. As an indication of the beef's texture and chewability, it was also called "salt junk," alluding to the rope yarn used for caulking the ship's seams.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Side Boys
Side boys are a part of the quarterdeck ceremonies when an important person or Officer comes on board or leaves a ship. Large ships have side boys detailed to the quarterdeck from 0800 to sunset. When the side is piped by the BMOW, from two to eight side boys, depending on the rank of the Officer, will form a passageway at the gangway. They salute on the first note of the pipe and finish together on the last note.
In the days of sail, it was not uncommon for the Commanding Officers of ships sailing in convoy to convene aboard the flagship for conferences. It was also not uncommon for COs to invite each other to dine aboard their vessels. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to bring visitors on and off a ship while underway. And there was no dignified may for a high ranking officer to scurry up or down a rope ladder hanging down the side of a ship.
Often the boatswain's chair, a rope and wood sling, would be used to hoist the guest onto and off the ship. The Boatswain's Mate would control the heaving by blowing the appropriate commands with a whistle known as a Boatswain's Pipe. The number of "strong backs" needed to bring the visitor aboard depended upon the size of the "load" being hoisted. Somewhere along the line, it was noted that the more senior the visitor's rank, the more Sailors were needed to "man the side." Over time, the need to hoist visitors onto and off of Navy ships went away, but the custom of mustering the Sideboys and piping distinguished visitors aboard ship remains.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carry On
In the days of sail, the Officer of the Deck kept a weather eye constantly on the slightest change in wind, so sails could be reefed or added as necessary to ensure the fastest headway. Whenever a good breeze came along, the order to "carry on" would be given. It meant to hoist every bit of canvas the yards could carry. Pity the poor Sailor whose weather eye failed him and the ship was caught partially reefed when a good breeze arrived.
Through the centuries the term's connotation has changed somewhat. Today, the Bluejackets Manual defines "carry on" as an order to resume work -- work not so grueling as two centuries ago.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Church Pennant
The Church Pennant is the only flag ever flown over the National Ensign at the same point of hoist. It is displayed during church services conducted by a Chaplain, both ashore and afloat.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eyes of the Ship
Most of the early ships had heads of mythological monsters or patrons carved in the bow; hence, the terms "figure head," "the heads" and the term "eyes of the ship" followed from the eyes of the figures placed there. Large "eyes" are still painted on the bows of Chinese junks.
Sailors also believe that these "eyes" help them and their ship through a storm by magically seeing the right of way. One particular Sailor's tale says that on the day before he was to sail, he bought his wife two beautiful, green emeralds for earrings. He was heartbroken when she did not like them, so instead he used them as the eyes of the female "figure head" on the bow of his ship.
His wife had a change of heart that night, and unbeknownst to her husband, removed the emeralds from the wooden figure. She planned to wear them upon his return, but he never did. One day after sailing, his ship steered right into a typhoon and sank. Some say it was because the ship could not "see" as his wife had stolen the ship's "eyes." When the wife heard the news, she cried for days until she fell asleep. When she awoke, she was blind...and the two beautiful emeralds had disappeared.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cut of His Jib
In the days of sailing ships, nationality and rigs could often be distinguished by their jibs. A Spanish ship, for example, had a small jib or none at all. Large French ships often had two jibs and English ships normally had only one.
From ships, the phrase was extended to apply to men. The nose, like the jib of a ship arriving in harbor, is the first part of the person to arrive at a designated place. Figuratively, it implies the first impression one makes on another person.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"To Be Three Sheets in the Wind"
In the days of sailing ships, this is a phrase which refers to the lines used to control the sails of sailing vessels. When these sheets are cast to the wind (let go), it would cause the old sailing ships to shudder and stagger. The resulting track would be the same as that of a drunken Sailor, out of control, and hence "three sheets in the wind."