Ahoy, buckos.
So we're muchachos on land and buckos on the sea?
Correct. The words convey the same meaning. As does the once oft-used term among sailors "bully."
Who woulda known that "Feeling Blue" has a nautical origin...
This term refers to a custom to mark when a ship had lost her captain at sea. The ship would have a blue band painted along her hull and would fly a blue flag when she returned to port. Now, the term refers to being sad or down.
As with
Pooped: This term refers to waves breaking over an aft deck when a vessel is sailing downwind in high seas. This now means “exhausted,” as a sailor assigned to bailing the pooped deck might have been.
Scuttlebutt: Now a slang term for gossip, this term is thought to have referred to the drinking ladle on boats. Captains often cut small holes or “scuttles” in it to reduce the chatter and wasted time at the water barrel, encouraging the sailors to drink fast before the water ran out.
Square meal: Now a somewhat confusing way of describing a wholesome, filling meal, this term comes from the square plates that the Royal Navy served sailors’ meals on.
Cat’s out of the bag- The cat o’ nine tails whip was used to punish sailors, so if it was out of the bag in which it was stored, that meant that the secret of someone’s wrongdoing was known. This phrase is now used to mean that a secret is out.
Dressed to the nines: When a maritime victory was celebrated, a ship would return to her home port "dressed" in bunting and flags. The crew would also be dressed in their best and out on the nine yards of a tall ship to greet their country. Today the phrase is used to describe a person who is very elaborately dressed.
Whole nine yards: This term is now used to mean “the whole lot” or “everything.” It’s thought this expression comes from square-rigged sailing vessels that had three masts with three sails hung from yard arms on each. The whole nine yards meant all sails were up.
Some randomness inspired by Captain Raz.
