Nautical Terminology

JumbleDuck said:
I'm fairly sure that when ATC are talking down some poor terrified sod sitting the the cockpit of an aircraft beside the unconscious pilot then do not always use all the full technical language.
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According to Wikipedia "There is no record of a talk down landing of a large commercial aircraft" ever having happened :)

Pete
 
Well, I was going to reply at length, but frankly, I don't think I can be bothered. If the OP and others want to remain landsmen who occasionally get on a boat but not be bothered to learn about sailing, then I suppose that's their business. I'd rather not have any boat they're on in my near vicinity though.

Serin's posts are the most sensible, with one or two others making good reason as well.

As for this --

trapezeartist said:
Let's try another one on you. Why do we need so many words for the sail in front of the mast? Jib, genoa, foresail, staysail, yankee, solent! If your boat has more than one, I accept the need to differentiate, but most of us do have just one. Foresail would be most logical, but jib is easier to say.
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There is a sail referred to as a 'trolling sail' too, normally flown at the stern of a fishing boat when you're trying to catch something. I suspect you're flying one now.
 
Sandyman said:
If you must enter our environment kindly do yourself the credit & us the honour of learning & using our nautical terminology. If you cant be bothered then may I suggest you take up model yacht racing & visit your local boating pond.
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What pretentious twaddle !

Personally,, whilst I know a lot of nautical terms, from ancient square rigger to modern racing jargon, it is to avoid this pretentious attitude that I prefer simple terminology.
Avoid pink trousers and yachting Blazers also
 
Wooden Boat Fittings said:
Well, I was going to reply at length, but frankly, I don't think I can be bothered. If the OP and others want to remain landsmen who occasionally get on a boat but not be bothered to learn about sailing, then I suppose that's their business. I'd rather not have any boat they're on in my near vicinity though.
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I'm not sure why this topic evokes such strong emotions: boats evolve and the language of sailing evolves with them, that's just the way of the world.

Spoken English today is very different to that used in sixteenth to seventeenth or eighteenth century England, so no surprise that the best sailors of today speak differently to our icons of yesteryear. So what; the fact that the best playwrights of today use a different language to Shakespeare in no way denigrates the great Bard of Avon ...and the same applies to mariners.
 
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Wooden Boat Fittings said:
Well, I was going to reply at length, but frankly, I don't think I can be bothered. If the OP and others want to remain landsmen who occasionally get on a boat but not be bothered to learn about sailing, then I suppose that's their business. I'd rather not have any boat they're on in my near vicinity though.

Serin's posts are the most sensible, with one or two others making good reason as well.

As for this --



There is a sail referred to as a 'trolling sail' too, normally flown at the stern of a fishing boat when you're trying to catch something. I suspect you're flying one now.
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Bitter words from a person who seems to think it is still a good idea to make boats out of dead trees. :devilish:
 
Sandyman said:
If you must enter our environment kindly do yourself the credit & us the honour of learning & using our nautical terminology. If you cant be bothered then may I suggest you take up model yacht racing & visit your local boating pond.
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I'm also an occasional model yacht racer and we don't want you sending them to us - we use properspeak too. And the same racing rules.
 
maxi77 said:
Nautical terminology exists partly as a specialist jargon to protect the real seamen from landsmen, but more importantly as an effective way of avoiding confusion when the chips are down. You can of course use any terminology on your boat but if you want to be clearly understood by all when it really matters. After all your life may depend on being clearly understood. To be provocative would suggest that the person who does not use the correct terminology will never be more than a landsman who goes to sea
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In general I agree, though I do tend to use the word "string" occasionally, though never when I meant the mizzen topsail halyard. On the boat that had that, you couldn't just say "pull that rope", there were far too many. And if I remember rightly the quote roughly along the lines of "seamanship is having enough spare string and knowing what to do with it" came from someone whose seamanship credentials are impeccable.
 
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JumbleDuck said:
Did you see the thread here a while back about someone who was shouting mad at a helpful passer by who hadn't understood screamed demands that he "dip the rope" when putting a rope on a cleat.
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If he had asked the passer by to "dip the eye", no doubt he would have understood! :)

The fact is that these nautical terms exist for a reason. Its never a case that one day someone decided unilaterally to name something with an obscure term for no reason. If we take the time to appreciate the background we may gain something. If nothing else a possible answer in a future pub quiz! Ask me what a kicking strap is, I can tell you - ask me to trip the guy, I'll go and do it. If a skipper starts telling me to pull on a red rope, or move to the left side, I'll shortly be looking for another ride.
 
prv said:
According to Wikipedia "There is no record of a talk down landing of a large commercial aircraft" ever having happened
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Nonsense. I've seen a documentary about one.

Airplane!%20Control%20Tower.jpg
 
Wooden Boat Fittings said:
Well, I was going to reply at length, but frankly, I don't think I can be bothered. If the OP and others want to remain landsmen who occasionally get on a boat but not be bothered to learn about sailing, then I suppose that's their business. I'd rather not have any boat they're on in my near vicinity though.
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I'd rather have someone who knows what they are doing but uses the wrong words near me than someone who can vomit up the Oxford Dictionary of Ships and the Sea but doesn't keep a look-out. I hope I never get to the stage of worrying about other people's terminology.
 
When I was in the RN it was one of my quips to say 'Doesn't all this naval terminology just drive you up the bulkhead?'
 
adwuk said:
If he had asked the passer by to "dip the eye", no doubt he would have understood! :)
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Perhaps, but we had a whole thread about it and the consensus was, as I recall, that even "dipping the eye" has never been in common use,

The fact is that these nautical terms exist for a reason. Its never a case that one day someone decided unilaterally to name something with an obscure term for no reason.
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They were generally invented, like all jargon terms, as a quick way of communicating information between experienced people in a field. Things don't stop working, or go wrong, if you need to take a little more time to describe them.

Ask me what a kicking strap is, I can tell you - ask me to trip the guy, I'll go and do it. If a skipper starts telling me to pull on a red rope, or move to the left side, I'll shortly be looking for another ride.
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Your prerogative, or course, but you may view things differently if you start skippering yourself.
 
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