{"id":2304,"date":"2024-03-31T15:18:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-31T22:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/?p=2304"},"modified":"2025-06-25T11:07:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T18:07:48","slug":"nautical-terminator-pronunciation-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/nautical-terminator\/nautical-terminator-pronunciation-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Nautical Terminator – Pronunciation (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I once heard Bugs Bunny derisively call someone a \u201cmaroon.\u201d Bugs didn\u2019t know how to pronounce \u201cmoron,\u201d thereby proving he was one. Tradewinds\u2019 BKB class introduces the word \u201cbowline,\u201d which is not pronounced like it looks. The \u201cbow\u201d should sound like the \u201cBo\u201d in Little Bo Peep<\/em>, and the \u201cline\u201d like the last name of the country singer named Loretta. Taking this class many years ago I thought, Oh, great. As if learning the words isn\u2019t bad enough, you have to learn a whole new way of pronouncing things.<\/em> Luckily, the list of odd pronunciations isn\u2019t as long as it used to be. We don\u2019t have to know how to pronounce \u201cstudding sails\u201d or \u201ccrossjack\u201d anymore (stuns\u2019ls <\/em>and cro-jeck<\/em>, just in case). But let me warn you about a few I\u2019ve sorted out in my unending, if unsuccessful, quest to avoid looking like a maroon.<\/p>\n\n\n

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          Sheave:\nThis is the wheel in a block that turns so the line will run freely. Ever been\nin prison? Me neither, so I learned this from my ex-brother-in-law. It\u2019s\npronounced just like that weapon all the bad guys use for protection, shiv.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Ratlines:\nIn the tropics, rig some 1\/4\u201d line to the shrouds with a Prussic Knot as ladder\nrungs so you can climb aloft like sailors of old and spot reefs. Say the second\nsyllable like Loretta\u2019s last name, as in bowline, above. (Perversely, jacklines,\nleechlines, and lifelines do not share this trait with their brothers of the\n\u201cline\u201d family, and are pronounced like they look.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Gunwale:\nSome boats are still built with a wooden rail at the place where the deck meets\nthe topsides, but the word can just describe the edge of the deck. Rhymes with tunnel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Forecastle:\nNowadays you work \u201cforedeck\u201d or \u201cbow\u201d and you sleep in the \u201cforward cabin\u201d or \u201cforepeak,\u201d\nwhere the \u201cV-berth\u201d is located. You\u2019re not going to need this word unless you\nship out with Long John Silver. But it\u2019s common in literature, so when you\u2019re\nreading aloud in your book group, pronounce it folks\u2019ll<\/em>, as in \u201cfolks\u2019ll do that.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Leeward:\nYou can pronounce this either like it looks or the slightly saltier loo-w\u2019rd<\/em>. But avoid saying \u201cby the loo.\u201d\nThat means something entirely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          <\/em>OK, to be honest,\nthese are the easy ones. Some pronunciations are a little more controversial or\nregional, and not so simple to pin down. We\u2019ll get to those next time.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I once heard Bugs Bunny derisively call someone a \u201cmaroon.\u201d Bugs didn\u2019t know how to pronounce \u201cmoron,\u201d thereby proving he was one. Tradewinds\u2019 BKB class introduces the word \u201cbowline,\u201d which is not pronounced like it looks. The \u201cbow\u201d should sound … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nautical-terminator"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2304"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3518,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304\/revisions\/3518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}