Nautical Slang

Subject: Nautical Slang Mon May 19, 2008 7:15 pm

I was wondering about the origins of the phrase
"ship-shape and Bristol fashion", so I did some searching for Nautical
slang and metaphor. Turns out there's quite a lot of it, and there's
even a book on it, When a Loose Cannon Flogs a Dead Horse There's the Devil to Pay.

What's even funnier is how some Nautical terms appear in Space:
"astern", "the brig", "Captain's Log". I suppose a ship is a ship, even
when there's no water.

If I had to pick a favourite, I'd have to say broadside,
meaning to fire all guns. It requires that the ship be broad side on to
the enemy, so that all guns on that side can be brought to bear. It's
crossed over in to current affairs and politics too, as in "US
conservatives launched a broadside attack against the State Department
yesterday, accusing it of a litany of diplomatic blunders..." (AFP
article from 2003)

Oh, and when someone says "there's no room to swing a cat in here",
you don't need to place a call to PETA... this cat has nine tails.

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