in trying to figure where or why the phrase "three sheets to the wind" came about, I consulted the book hog on ice as a reference.
though it may be in there somewhere, google proved to be much faster, though I trust the information less.
when will the two worlds meet?
3 comments:
I think it has to do something with sailing.
Also, I've cleaned my bathroom, so the house is, more or less, totally ready for visitors. Or I could visit you. I would be more than happy to visit you, actually. Maybe I should use that phone thing.
tis a sailing term. beth, you're still so smart! and w/ a clean bathroom...
the sheets are the lines/ropes that you use to set the sails, two for the jib and one for the mainsail. if you don't have them set properly, the sails flap about pointlessly in the wind and you don't move. and if you're pissed/drunk you a) can't get them set or b) don't care to set them.
-d
A sheet is, indeed, a line that holds a sail in place. However, three sheets does not come from the mainsail sheet and the two jib sheets on a modern sailing sloop. Only one job sheet is used at a time on a sloop. Three sheets refers to a three masted schooner which typically carried three sheets per mast. This is also where the term "the whole nine yards" came from. Each of the three masts carried three sails each refered to as a yard.
Post a Comment