Good answer but not right on the off sideif you are on board and don't know what port and starboard mean , you are a passenger and don't need to know what they mean!!
Right or left depends on which way you are facing , Port and starboard always mean the same sides of the boat.
Go into any sport and they have words for things.
"Love all" means no ones scored in tennis.
"Of side rule" means there is a player nearer the oppositions goal, than the ten non goal keeping players of the opposition, without the ball... what has that to do with sides?
"Silly mid off" is a somewhat dangerous fielding position in Cricket..
As for Rugby with "hookers, "Loose head Props", Tight head Props" you never know what they are up to
Are you suggesting all sports are snobs?
If you was young , a head can be a pleasure.
"Of side rule" means there is a player nearer the oppositions goal, than the ten non goal keeping players of the opposition, without the ball... what has that to do with sides?
"Silly mid off" is a somewhat dangerous fielding position in Cricket..
As for Rugby with "hookers, "Loose head Props", Tight head Props" you never know what they are up to
Probably
Technical terms have their uses. I would prefer to be asked to adjust the Genoa sheet rather than “the rope that’s a bit thicker than the green one” just as I might find it more useful to describe an issue with an exhaust manifold rather than “the bit that joins the engine block to the long pipe”.
But if anyone doesn’t find that sort of thing helpful, so be it.
Why are you looking for arguments again.
Being on the water is like stepping off into a different dimension of the world, it‘s a whole other place.
People on ships in the old days lived and died together, so it’s not surprising that sailors came up with different words for everyday things because they were in a different context … the fact you knew the right names identified you as a sailor vs a landlubber.
If you suggested to a hairy Matelot that this was anything to do with snobbery, they would fall overboard laughing.
In leisure boating, we are mostly trying to give the impression we know what we are doing by using nautical terminology. It’s also about using names that everyone understands to have the same meaning.
e.g. on my motorboat, I will say “Splice the Mainbrace” every now and again
And I would have sworn that sheets and ropes were mentioned in your original post in this thread.
I was looking on one of your threads , and you mention keel boards and sib, are you a snob. Just saying
Comes naturally.
