New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-17
SAILORMEN'S TALK.
ENGLISH SPEAKING MAhlNhN'
Use THE WORDS OF THEIR SOAN
D1NAVrAN FOREFATHERS

pe'"'P' o,,s q strange jargon. All pro-
.saa,o,,s A., this more or less. Every cruz "'
49, 80, "cort" though the term cunt
-, .,,,.,sio.,sl, restricted TO the spec'a' -
storal language Of the pulpit. 1hIS - ,o+
,r,,,sr,. what is less generally no"0eu 49,.
~ ooo,,s" ~ the older crafts ana
40 c,,iouslv marked with their ha"o""'
racial origins. .h,s day
,,d 90 the science Of astronomy TO th'S ""'
-. ,h, marks Of Arabic origin on seNV'"'
go ,,,oe, elementary technicalites' as
rooords the greatness of French ee'e'"
.,u,,o-,, engineers in such terms as
- o., "echelon." "deploy,' 'glacis O"
80, do erjse - "fascine" and scores h'o'e' 90
T., 80. matter Of phraseOlogy. the waves "
r,,,ad IN this day, not by Britannia o"' ~
Scandinavian race. a part or WHO" 0'i'' .A
ITO az q good anchorage from which 20 l"u''
.,,o,r srekkas carayels frigates and tuire' S'.'n
ord ri, the best they could ma OH me
coasts The United states Army o'l'''
49,. ,,as ., talk 10 his subordnates more OF 'c7'
'' ,...,.,,o,o ~ Vauban and Condo. With III
.to,.,. n fair admiXtuTe OF corruP''"
s.ouisb handed down 10 him from the lhN'0'''.
.irforter,a" Of Charles Y. and Phiip H. ""'
~ ,bo sea tho sons Of the Bay Kings SUN u"
words that are hardly changed since ''V
ebirs rushed the East Anglican c""S' "''
.,,,,o ~ Alfred 1t seems, If one olNeS
into the etymology Of nautical No'uS'
&C ~ old Anglo Danish words 'ha' Wei.
.,aa, d, Nercja and East Anglia thous""D
80 ,,o as part Of a peoples common '"'N
No. cone 70 sea and drifted about ever Sli''
-. ,, then, have suffered sea chahse' -
. o~o not Immediately recognizable !"
',- s.ot,orsri.s Of old Danish and lceiah'''
,,,,.h ,,a,, ore mixed In few Saxon WORDS 'i'''
$780,. ,,,,s, hoon missing from the ordinary NoO"'
..,ar,, ~ the Latinized Anglo-Saxon iahEu"Se
100 CO many missing heirs Of great hou'''
o,t,.,. went 10 sea and were never he@'u o'
or n least. never recognized ny '"e'
relations.
asru.rrs" RATS" AND Cats
~ instance the ordinary English speaking
,..,.r,or knows what IS meant by sheet vi
o.. 1,,t - strikes him as paradoxlcai to near
no coued "a sheet" that IS, because the
..,s,,o, docs not know Danish. in when
....lo,,. d. ~ ,o,nt or corner a sheet rope i
oriy rope fastened TO the point or corner -,
o'''. r-,,o only. other instance Of sheet useu
t., ,ts sense IS strangely enough, IN the science
- ooric sections. Then. again, it puzzles Ianus-
NON ~ hear SO much about cats and l"'s ~"
,,,,.,ard yybv cat an anchor? Why not tie
:, ,,o Why "ratlines" on ladder or ropes
., &c .,pnrs', on a ladder Of wood? These
cats and rats have puzzled some landluo'e'
1a,.,rs - English dictionaries until it has been
,,.s,,.retal,. assumed that the primitive seameh
,....l,,,.d then, tocos.ly The primitive seameh
oc this mixed breed were incapable or Ne'""'
,,.os;,,. they could see the FUN Of swinging
.1,arl" - tho masthead 10y the heels While ne
slept or jerking a "knaNe mo 'he -" "'1
watching him swim out If he could, or a oou'
with handsrikes involving bloody h'""9' D"'
..,,,x ae nofs' and small geological pleasantrleS
were fat and improbable 10 them ihe' 'd"'N
..ot limos" so simply because they are 'ra'
lines" or. II you like. rad lines iahosH'e" van
,her, "rnngs" or "rangs. "or "eradus,' according
IS they NAV be half French whole french' OF
Roman but the idea is the samc-steps. ranks
rows. things set all arrow As for the cat '"' mr.
cat block the cat head the cat tail. catch tackle
catch block and so on. would be more correct
The anchor is seized up by thess apparatus or
as they said in old times, 'catched' Wheh u -
not atrp or on the swing
The lau4sman who has forgotten the language
. his e,refathers since IL has been roaming
the world all these centuries While ne mas "''"
STAYING at home picking up new ana strange
words for f2mlIldE lllDES, Has teN'i4 ~
q ecuttle q basket" borrowing word from the
Celtic aborlcines The Saxons as well as the
Danes called anything a "scuttle" into which
they could put their goods for safe keeping
NOWADAYS the book learned English use the Woru
only for small coal receiver; but in some parts
~, Eastern that IS. Danish-Britain. the simpler
folk still have "scuttles' for their apples an"
their household stuff. under the thatch Of their
roofs and. Of course the word survives al sea
Again for some reason. English speaking land
lubbers haze consecrated the word 'shroua 10
the clothing Of the dead only, but the ship car
ries her shrouds all her life-"scruds the Dansh
scotch cali them You have only 20 look at
flu rieged ship to see how appropriate the name
u.s. The odd thing about this last W"rd Is lndl
the Saxon form has got the better OF the bd'sl
on the sea. while "skioert." pronounced just IKE
that hv many English speaking women 70 TINS
dav the Danish form has stayed ashore along
with the other Saxon form shirt
DANE AND SAXON.
But IN q general wav sea talk has distinctly
Scandinavian sound 70 it. The shippers in the
starboa~d gangvay. standing on the coamines
Is a sentence which is mainly Danish. not Saxon.
To begin with the Saxon form for skipper
would be shipper" Nowadays people call the
man IN, the Spanish name. captain" and think
the old East Anglican "s kipra" (shlpman) dis
respectful expression. Then "starboard' IS
corruption Of "stear board" IN the very early
DAYS the snake boats had no rudders on Their
stern posts. but were steered. or stear-ed 10y
means % large paddles or 'rodres,' rugged out
ALWAYS on the steerers right so as TO give more
purchase 10 his left or weaker, arm. That made
The right side or board. of the skip the "stear
hoard - inst as that end is the "stearn," which
we ignoTantly spell stern" and pronounce 10
,bvnnc with BURN The other side Of the hull,
which having no "rodTe" on il. could be brought
chez mn TO the wharf for lading was the "lade
hoard and this became. by the attriuon OF
use the ''labboard." wrongly spelled cardboard
,rbe Yankee sailors mostly men Of East Anglican
hraed always said "stabbOrd' and "labbord
un,u the authorities ordered "labbord' changed
70 mort" TO avoid confusion The whalers. how
49, ., nLserve. not Go way" A Saxon goes
NJ, ;wends': a Dane Norseman gangs like
.tr~olf the Ganzera" And "cOamings" ol
"conbings" IN more inland Saxon might be
called borders" but the Dane saw the resem
N.I-,U - . - % II wood and The .c.aIn.