The other day at a Tradewinds instructors meeting, the estimable Craig Walker, a true gentleman and our most accomplished teacher, opined that we should not be cursing during class. Now, on the one hand, I completely agree that our instructors should maintain a professional demeanor at all times, one that would not be out of place in church. On the other hand, this admonishment flies in the face of all we know about the sport. When a neighbor, and for some reason this is funnier if it\u2019s a woman, has a habit of expressing herself with rapid fire strings of expletives, do we say her language is sugary? No, we say it\u2019s salty. Do we say she curses like a golfer? Heavens, no. She curses like a sailor. Even nerds recognize this, and if you don\u2019t believe me, Google \u201cmake Siri curse [space].\u201d Google will fill in \u201clike a sailor.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here at Tradewinds, during my first\nclass more than two decades ago, I was taught that there were actually two sets\nof commands to learn. The much loved instructor Ron Pook informed us that when\ncruising, it\u2019s \u201ctrim the main, please.\u201d But when racing, the proper expression\nis \u201cTrim the !#%@$<\/em> main!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truth is, sailors don\u2019t really have a whole catalogue of curses that differ from those of the lubbers. It seems it\u2019s the frequency of their use that distinguishes the sailor from the landsman. Of course, there are <\/em>two familiar sailor\u2019s exclamations that we all know: Popeye\u2019s \u201cWell, blow me down!\u201d and Long John Silver\u2019s \u201cShiver me timbers!\u201d It is, I\u2019m sorry to report, not completely clear that either one was ever actually in common use by the sailors of yore, but both can be traced to 19th<\/sup> century literature. \u201cBlow me down\u201d has come down to us in the still often used phrase, \u201cI was blown away.\u201d I don\u2019t think the sense of it requires much investigation. \u201cShiver me timbers\u201d is a little less obvious. To \u201cshiver\u201d is to splinter, and is related to the word \u201cshiv.\u201d Of course \u201cshiver\u201d also meant \u201cshake.\u201d Either way, one\u2019s timbers may get shivered by a cannon ball from a hostile vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m\nhopeful that Craig will permit our saying, \u201cBlow me down! That was an awesome\ntack!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The other day at a Tradewinds instructors meeting, the estimable Craig Walker, a true gentleman and our most accomplished teacher, opined that we should not be cursing during class. Now, on the one hand, I completely agree that our instructors … Continue reading