Correct terms (and spelling)

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Nope. I can't believe I'm the only one to catch it

'Cuz not only is it SO obvious that it was the first thing to catch my eye when I clicked the link in Ross' post..but someone posting to this thread has even mentioned that this same spelling error is one that leaves him scratching his head. Here's the link again, so you won't have to search down the page for it: http://www.sailinglinks.com/glossary.htm

 

[Rich]

Reign of error...

It's always interesting to watch as pronunciation leads words away from their original spelling. Has anyone noticed how West Marine sells Bosun's chairs and whistles? What if you're really looking for a Boatswain's chair? And the "gunnel" spelling is starting to creep into powerboat advertising, where hopefully the buyer won't be confused about not having a "gunwale". You're probably having a jolly time if your salon is equipped with a "saloon".Because most of these errors come from hundreds of years of verbal transmission by illiterate sailors, it makes sense that in modern times some traditional pronunciations are being lost as people learn their lingo from the written word. I don't know too many people who try to keep on pronouncing sheave as "shiv". Harry Calahan insisted in his 1936 Learning to Sail that tackle is pronounced "tayckle", a pronunciation which now seems extinct.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Someone on a UK site has a great sig line:

I tried to find a post from him to quote it exactly, but couldn't...it's very close to this:There are no typographical errors or misspelled words in my posts. Any you think you see are examples of the evolution of the English language." "Reign of Error"...clever!

 

[tweitz]

Spelling for Peggy

In all this spelling, its gunwale, not gunwhale. Don't ask me why, maybe its made out of courdoroy. Still pronouncd gunnel.

 

[Malcolm Young]

Masthead light

Moody - I will bite (or is it bight...) The following is from memory, however the Collision Regs will define it more clearly without doubt.A masthead light is the running light that you turn on at night to signify that you are under power. It was introduced as a steaming light to make it easy to identify power driven vessels from sailing vessels.It is a white light that shows over 225° forward and on a sailboat is usually located somewhere below the spreaders. On a power boat it may actually be at the top of the mast. It must be located above the running lights used when under power. As a result it should not be used in conjunction with a sailing tri-light which is truly located at the top of a sailboats mast. It is not an anchor light which may or may not be at the top of a boat's mast.This all raises a question - what is the proper grammatical term to use for words which don't mean what they seem to say?

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Winner!

Very good! *5Want to take my COLREGS test for me? *!Why mast-headlights are not at the masthead is beyond me. I prefer to call it a steaming light, but masthead light is the correct term.And of course we must be careful not to call all around red and green optional sailing lights at the masthead, masthead lights. You can have lights at the masthead while sailing but you shouldn't have the masthead light on at the same time. If I don't shoot at things from my boat, why do I need gunwales? I've never seen a production boat that has gunnel's high enough to be of any use anyway ... Why does my boat have halyards but no yards? Wouldn't headboard lift be more correct?Ain't sailing fun? *o

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Oops...ya got me!

 

[Anchor Down]

Just Got Back…

…from Dictionary.com.A wale is a plank or strake running longitudinally along the side of a ship.From there it's easy to get to "gun wale": the topmost wale, on which the guns were mounted.Gunnel, my eye.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Weeeelll...wait sec...

Spelling and pronunciation are two different things. "Gunwale" has been pronounced "gun'l" for about a century. The sad thing is the loss of the real name in print in favor of spelling it "gunnel" to pander to people who think a boat is just a condo or RV that floats.Unfortunately we'll see more of it as "head" gives way to "bathroom"...galley gives way to "kitchen"...because today's society no longer values tradition. It broke my heart to learn that the newest edition of Chapman's no longer includes anything about splices, knots or hitches and they have decreed that it's no longer considered proper to refer to a boat as "she." I've been boatless and missing it a lot since relocating to AR a few years ago...but after learning that, I've begun to wonder if there's much left to miss any more.

 

[Tereza]

A Sea of Words

That's the title of a lexicon of salty terms written as a companion to Patrick O'Brian books. If you want to befuddle the lubbers in your life, get this! (My husband is mysteriously working his way through all the O'Brian books, while managing to keep his distance from my little sloop and any water...hmmm...)BTW, in answer to why leeward is pronounced looward, and to most of the other odd pronunciations such as gunwale, boatswain, and forecastle, I have learned that it comes from the plethora of seamen hailing from Cornwall, and this is the application of the Cornwwallian accent to these words.Cheers!

 

[Ross]

I think that

Leeward is really contracted to "loo'erd"

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

I think you're too quick to blame the Cornwellians...

Foc'sle, gun'l, looward, bosun and other spoken versions of nautical terms are simply spoken contractions...no different from y'all (you all) or chittlins (chitterlings) in Southern and a zillion others in regional and "industry specific" lexicons.

 

[Jack4865]

Etymology and other fun stuff

I'm impressed with the number of etymologists on this site. Would drive me buggy if they were entomologists, as well. Homonym fun:Can you count to two too?They're going to put their jackets over there.While we're thinking aloud, anything is allowed.Aye captain, I think my eye is failing me.And now, a word from a fine wordsmith:I respect a man who knows how to spell a word more than one way. - Mark TwainJackFriendshipC350, #80

 

[Ross]

The man from Maine told his son

It is pronounced "idear" but when you spell it the"r" is silent.

 

[RichH]

Corerct Splelnig

Aoccdirng to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uniervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod oredr are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcauease we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wohle.Initserteng !!!!!Srory to ofefnd thsoe aanl-retntivees aomng us !!!!!! .... but they wouldnt understand anyway.

 

[RichH]

Ross ----

Thats a pretty good pronunciation joke from a guy who lives near ..... Balimer, Merlin !!!! <g>

 

[Ross]

When we moved here

from Virginia my younger son picked up the inflections quickly, "warm" was pronounced "werm" Our address is Bel Air Pronounced "Blair". Rt # 1 is the main road between here and the big city to our south. On this end it is "Balmir pike" and on the other end it is "Blair Rd."