Many of the words used every day have their origins in maritime cultures. Considering that it wasn't until this century that continent to continent travel took place on ships, many of our ancestors traveled to the United States on ships. Thus, many of the first settlements founded were ports. These settlements depended on the ocean for food, trade, travel, and news from their home countries. It only makes sense that many words reflect this past and present ocean culture.
Some phrases seem obvious.
The name of our country is taken from an ocean map maker, Amerigo Vespucci, and the name of our nation's capitol, District of Columbia, is named for the explorer Christopher Columbus. But many of the phrases and word origins are not obvious. The oceans connect many lands and languages, allowing for words from different cultures to be integrated into our own modern language. Gung Ho is a Chinese expression used to describe ship crews when they had to rally together to make it through a tough situation and was adopted by Marine Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson in WWII for a motto for his division. Learn the ropes is a phrase that was used to explain the rigging and ropes of a ship and was the first thing expected of a new crew member to become familiar with.