a fibre, especially wool, correctly and ensure it remains the right size, length and twist, the spinner has to continually stretch the material. Thus when the old-timers wanted to suggest that someone was stretching the truth they likened it to ‘spinning a yarn’.
Spic and span
Splice the Main Brace
An extra tot of rum. There is a cynicism in this expression. The worn part of a rope would sometimes be cut out and the ends long-spliced together. It provided a reasonable repair, the rope looked as good as new although not quite so strong as before. The main brace however, was such an important rope that splicing was not often considered and at the first sign of damage or wear the rope was renewed. The expression implies that an extra tot of rum was as rare as a splicing of the main brace.
Spoil the Ship for a Ha’p’orth of Tar
This is a misquotation. Correctly it is ‘spoil the sheep for a ha’p’orth of tar’ and refers to the practice of applying bitumen or tar to a sheep’s feet to prevent it contracting disease.
Square Up
From the custom of ships in harbour ‘squaring’ their yards horizontally to the deck and at right angles to the fore and aft line. The phrase has come to mean to repay debts; to square with somebody; the state of being normal and correct.
Stand
A ship will stand in towards the land, stand off a port, stand in with another vessel when sailing together, and stands by in case of trouble. The word has come ashore, people also stand-by, stand their ground, stand in favour, become stand-offish, or simply like to know how they stand?
Staunch
From the old French estanche meaning watertight. A vessel which had no leaks was described as staunch. Hence firm, reliable.
Stave Off
To stave, the operation of breaking the planks of a boat, past tense of the verb is stove. To stave off meant to thrust a boat from the stone quay or ship’s side with a boathook or spar to prevent her from being damaged. Thus comes the idea of staving off a problem.
Stinkpot
An insulting term, and a form of chemical warfare used in Greek and Roman times and again by pirate ships in the 18th century. Earthernware pots filled with sulphur and a slow-burning fuse were lit and thrown onto the oponents’ deck. Once ignited the mixture produced an intolerable stench and clouds of black smoke. This created a diversion as the attacker closed alongside and armed men prepared to board.
Strike
The shortened form of ‘strike work’. It was a method of protest against low wages, poor conditions, etc. The crew would strike or lower the ship’s yards to immobilise her. It was particularly done in port and not at sea which would have been mutiny.
Suck the Monkey
The phrase ‘Old suck the monkey’ is an insult which has attracted several variations (He doesn’t give a monkey’s, etc.) It comes from the practice common amongst British seamen serving in the West Indies during the American War of Independence of persuading the local women to bring coconuts aboard filled with rum which was then drunk or sucked from the small holes. There are two explanations for the word ‘monkey’, it was the word for the small wooden casks which were also employed for this purpose plus the obvious association that the hairy coconut looked like a monkey’s face.
Sun Over the Yardarm
Time for a drink. The expression began with passengers on North Atlantic liners steeling themselves to wait for an alcoholic drink until the moment the sun had risen above the foreyard; in these latitudes that would have been around midday. There is no suitable explanation, however, for the other well known nautical toast down the hatch . It first appeared in print in the 1930s in a book by P. G. Wodehouse. He might even be the inventor, it sounds like him.
Sweet Fanny Adams
The most unfortunate girl in history. Not enough that she was brutally murdered and dismembered (by a deranged accountant) but her initials have become anagrammed into an ugly expletive. It
Spic and span
Splice the Main Brace
An extra tot of rum. There is a cynicism in this expression. The worn part of a rope would sometimes be cut out and the ends long-spliced together. It provided a reasonable repair, the rope looked as good as new although not quite so strong as before. The main brace however, was such an important rope that splicing was not often considered and at the first sign of damage or wear the rope was renewed. The expression implies that an extra tot of rum was as rare as a splicing of the main brace.
Spoil the Ship for a Ha’p’orth of Tar
This is a misquotation. Correctly it is ‘spoil the sheep for a ha’p’orth of tar’ and refers to the practice of applying bitumen or tar to a sheep’s feet to prevent it contracting disease.
Square Up
From the custom of ships in harbour ‘squaring’ their yards horizontally to the deck and at right angles to the fore and aft line. The phrase has come to mean to repay debts; to square with somebody; the state of being normal and correct.
Stand
A ship will stand in towards the land, stand off a port, stand in with another vessel when sailing together, and stands by in case of trouble. The word has come ashore, people also stand-by, stand their ground, stand in favour, become stand-offish, or simply like to know how they stand?
Staunch
From the old French estanche meaning watertight. A vessel which had no leaks was described as staunch. Hence firm, reliable.
Stave Off
To stave, the operation of breaking the planks of a boat, past tense of the verb is stove. To stave off meant to thrust a boat from the stone quay or ship’s side with a boathook or spar to prevent her from being damaged. Thus comes the idea of staving off a problem.
Stinkpot
An insulting term, and a form of chemical warfare used in Greek and Roman times and again by pirate ships in the 18th century. Earthernware pots filled with sulphur and a slow-burning fuse were lit and thrown onto the oponents’ deck. Once ignited the mixture produced an intolerable stench and clouds of black smoke. This created a diversion as the attacker closed alongside and armed men prepared to board.
Strike
The shortened form of ‘strike work’. It was a method of protest against low wages, poor conditions, etc. The crew would strike or lower the ship’s yards to immobilise her. It was particularly done in port and not at sea which would have been mutiny.
Suck the Monkey
The phrase ‘Old suck the monkey’ is an insult which has attracted several variations (He doesn’t give a monkey’s, etc.) It comes from the practice common amongst British seamen serving in the West Indies during the American War of Independence of persuading the local women to bring coconuts aboard filled with rum which was then drunk or sucked from the small holes. There are two explanations for the word ‘monkey’, it was the word for the small wooden casks which were also employed for this purpose plus the obvious association that the hairy coconut looked like a monkey’s face.
Sun Over the Yardarm
Time for a drink. The expression began with passengers on North Atlantic liners steeling themselves to wait for an alcoholic drink until the moment the sun had risen above the foreyard; in these latitudes that would have been around midday. There is no suitable explanation, however, for the other well known nautical toast down the hatch . It first appeared in print in the 1930s in a book by P. G. Wodehouse. He might even be the inventor, it sounds like him.
Sweet Fanny Adams
The most unfortunate girl in history. Not enough that she was brutally murdered and dismembered (by a deranged accountant) but her initials have become anagrammed into an ugly expletive. It
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