The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-08-21
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SEA7MEN q ER7N ACULAR.
SOME OF T54Es ODD WORDS AND
PHRASES USED ON THE WATER.

sDiayecthTVhich stIte Landsman Could
Never nope to Mister Except onsship-
Expressions That Puzzle the
Amateur AYaciltsman.
Our anaSxAIrs sailors are trying in the
short time aISuCtzsfg fer tsae gieSioes sport
to fgrrilia-sEe themselves net only "1bn
5acks, SHEETS. 8ssslsaEes, b9gTals, gals, ana
soa1,. but. sxe.agsoye nt2espo1agf 80 acquire
for the 1sorrts the st1aGaS Xessa acszia-
which the sssor uses in expressing hls
idess. ItAxEl suerhaps. be OF interest ana
arugssrnerr5 TO {look ITO Gp why's and
wherefcyes of some Of these sea phrases,
the meanings OF which are sometimes SO
subtle rs 10 defy sransfatlon
Many ef. the expressions apparently mt
4fe-veoetiuLa7 coz Glit3GE1s 50 ascuzzale that
DEW disergeace wva2Id prGoaI3fy be, as pUz-
lin, a.,sassgsYnan ais3he7S ga be Tvereesaokea
4oin sszree8onaigzs; TleeaeAe SHADES
If sjc1535cz1fan that ssrenot.5o be fo90d III
hooks that no -ezAci, of iistesliag,te CASUAL
couEc..1s1G0zs cen TEyasster, ana winch can
epFy ss understood pSopsEiy by going: to
sea ans living yvi5hatne'Inen forward of
the Least
OF ali Ace various faatuIeS4 OF procedure
in n,ssf7ess ou ut s,of dllesSal-y, NOTHING is 50
lea;.8 bre.yst 1he ss4.sIEzEss o. za-lri-
cel. witnesses. ave WIS going along al
f1lkiag ygaen tiletExiRa adres@od asaeaa. We
tzirazeessd sal. anaEin fcTer4nd na3Zaen1tor'-
saFrs-l. when "a bl4t of a sea maxim OF hcr
yav7. MinG8er huff, you .SogGr,' sIn@5s out
III old man. an as Be says this one OF the
lib guys ed,RndlSpruns-th boom, for
ours were swinging bCoTns, and aad the
ford -uv and thereafter .g1Iy'1ltteG an one,
with a cuckod1s Decll around the boom
end. Are ven a foiEGyin' OfaIne, SIR"
WHIT SOM, ;TEFsds,MEAN
If one can imagine q statement of this
kindly no means TsTsLfli-t,e!WeTed to
> I.1vyer. it villtaBea seisZ l1eherFina gina
ton 20 picture the facial expression Of the
learned counsel. II was only a snort time
AFRO that one OF the most eminent lawyers
in The country, IN sunRIlag,Iz0 a case, was
forced 10 give up trying tO,desSG-'a1e a par
ricular portion Of u vessel By its technical
name, and admit that he did'poJ know its
proper name, thereby somewhat weaken
ing the force of his argument.
Sailors talk indeed is a dialecttas dis
tinct from our ordinary language as Choo-
law or Fsouimau. English words are used,
but their Specification IS utterly remote
from the me2nug.5ley have in,shore par
lance. 4 yard ashore means the land
about a house; at,sea 1t is a spar Every
coschman and the majority Of boys know
what g whip is, but at sea it is a tackle
formed by single rope wOve through a
block 4 lizard is not & reptile, but
niece of rope with 4 Jhimble or ring SpliCed
into il. Just as the cathc8d Is a piece of
timber, and bees are stout pieces Of plank.
Boating is not striking, but sailing by
lacks; q bonnet is not for ladies wear, but
a piece of canvas laced to the jib; while
cats paw has as little to do with the feline
animal as fiddles and harpings have with
music.
Sailors language, however. is by no
means wholly compounded Of the terms
referring to the various parts Of the ship.
Hardsbips, perils rough usage, Indifferent
food, scarcity OF water, and the like have
imported a mass of rough sayings into the
forecastle, many of which are sanctifed
bv touches Of rude poetry. Jacks ditties,
too, are frequently vehicles Of his emo
fjons. When he does not know how to
-'Erowi7 fairly he viii put his feelings
snto q topsail halyard song, and often has
the anchor come up to a 3srce chorus com
pounded Of imprOviSed abuse of the ship
and the skipper, to which expression could
not be given in quieter method
MANY DUTCHMEN.
Unfortunately the list of melodies is
yomewhat limited, but the lack of variety
Is no obstruction to the sailors poetical
inspiration when he wants the odd man
to know his private opinions without eX-
pressing them to his face and so the same
"chantey," as the windIass or halyard
chorus Is called, furnishes the music to as
many various indignant circumstances as
Jack can find injuries 10 sing about.
1t is peculiar TO the sailor TO call all for
eiguers "Dutc+lmen' as long As they hail
from Denmark. Sweden, Norway, Ger
many or Holland. Any man who says
YAH for yes" gets at once the credit Of
being Dutch. This love of generic titles
nodoubt induces sailors TO make the word
''grCwi'' staRd for complaining, abusive,
and 50 on. II a man nuIrmurs IN the least
vs. said 70 be growing, and whether it
be for little thing or great one the
same elastic word is used.
"Douse the gfm' is to put ont light,
and brings Ia mind the story Of a very ele-
GAM Young man VINO priied himself on
using well chosen language, and mad an
evident confidence in his ability 60 upset
all old Gust oms and expressions. When on
watch one night he had occasion TO hail a
mainland order light put out. His order
was 30 "estinguish that luminary.' 1t
WAS repeated several times, bat was not
understood. although the man addressed
WIS looking wildly about in a vain en-
deavor ( o discovertheunusu2l thing, what
ever it was The boRtswain now appeared
uren the scene, and. haI1ing the man,
bawled out, 'DouSc that glim there and be
ID 10 vou." Out went the hight as
though il were an incaudescent lamp and
the current WAS suddenly turned of.
And so il goes frs.n one expression to
another. II cannot he expected that the
sailor wsll find ether words than those
which occur naturally to MIN in rekting
incidents of profession crswySed with say
ings to be heard nowhere except on board
ship. Itis quite certain that 10 STOP a sailor
from tellVDg a story in his eTyn fashion "a,
TO use his phrase, 70 bring him up with =
round turn New York Times.