John Didn’t Come To Work Today. He’s Under The Weather.

Learning these idioms will make sailing smoother for learning English.

Idioms and terms derived from jargon passed down through professions have filled the English language for generations. The English navy and commercial sailing fleets are responsible for many idioms we take for granted and use freely today. I recognized many of these idioms when I learned to sail. A few of the most common follow.

John didn’t come to work today. He’s under the weather.

Under the weather means someone is not feeling well. Sailing on the oceans or great lakes can subject sailors to strong storms and turbulent water. Often sailors, when ill, would be relieved of their duties. They would be allowed to go below the deck; thus, they would be under the weather.

He’s a bad one, he is. He’ll come to a bitter end.

I have heard this expression a few times, mainly when seated near older relatives discussing the wild nature of one cousin or another. I could tell that my uncles or aunts were critical of cousin Someone or Other, and that bitter wasn’t good. I associated bitter with the taste of baker’s chocolate, raw orange or raw lemon peel, and black coffee. So I knew that someone coming to a bitter end would have a distasteful future.

It wasn’t until I took up the sport of sailing that I learned what a bitter end means and the grizzly consequences of coming to a bitter end. You see, the end of a rope is called a bitter end. So when someone comes to a bitter end, they’ve met the end of a rope, i.e., died of hanging. (Originally published in I’ve Been Sitting So Long I Can’t Stand It)

In today’s economy, many businesses are scraping the bottom of the barrel for employees.

In the olden days, sailing ships carried their provisions for a voyage in wooden barrels. Barrels stored flour, bacon, meat, fruits and vegetables, and even water. As the journey continued, the contents would be emptied top down. Pieces of provisions broke off and fell to the bottom of the barrel. Toward the end of the voyage, the oldest and least desirable food would be at the bottom. Sometimes, it was necessary to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get enough food to feed the crew.

Mr. Scrooge, the new boss, is determined to run a tight ship.

It is crucial to make sure nothing is loose on a boat sailing across the ocean. Normal wave action can cause loose items to roll back and forth. Enormous waves cause objects to become dangerous projectiles. Thus everything needs to be secured tightly on a ship. A tight ship implies that everything is done right.

I hate being in meetings with Mr. Wiggins. He’s such a loose cannon.

The problem with Mr. Wiggins is that he says whatever is on his mind without thinking. He never thinks things through. Often, the effects of his suggestions are worse than the problem they were supposed to fix.

The origin of loose cannon comes from wooden naval vessels. Guns had to be secured so that they would not move uncontrolled. The rolling motion of a man-o-war could send a loose cannon careening across the deck, crushing sailors and causing massive damage. A loose cannon could generate as much death and injury as enemy fire.

That truck is weaving a bit. Let’s give it a wide berth.

To give someone or something a wide berth is to provide it with plenty of room or keep far away from it.

The origin of the expression centers on the definition of a berth. Merriam-Webster dictionary says a berth is “a place in the water where a ship stops and stays when anchored or at a wharf.” An anchored vessel moves around with the motion of the waves and current. The ship’s swing can be pretty broad; thus, the boat must have a wide berth to avoid colliding with other vessels or objects.

Given the effects of the pandemic, we’ll have to trim the sails to stay in business.

The idiom of trimming the sails refers to trimming the sails of a boat. When the wind changes its force, a sailor will tighten or loosen the control lines of the sail to continue sailing on a steady course.

Smruthi dated the man for six months before he showed his true colors.

To show one’s true colors is to show a person’s true nature. Many people have told of being misled by others who appear to be one thing but are quite another.

In the Golden Age of Piracy era, it was quite common for pirates to fly the flag (known as colors) of England or another country to sail close to a merchant ship. At the last moment, the pirates would strike the false colors and raise their skull and crossbones, showing their true colors.

Many world-class athletes sail close to the wind in their respective sports.

To sail close to the wind means a boat is sailing nearly into the wind. Imagine a traditional clock face. If the wind is blowing directly from 12, sailing close to the wind would be when the boat’s bow points to the 1 or 11. A ship sailing this close to the wind would maximize its speed. However, a sudden wind shift could cause the boat to lose power. So the sentence, “Many world-class athletes sail close to the wind in their respective sports.” means the athletes are maximizing their potential but could fail at any moment.

My neighbor lost valuable Christmas presents to some porch pirates.

Movies such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” romanticize pirates of the early 1700s. Images of tall sailing ships come to mind when you hear pirates. Since more folks have been ordering packages to be delivered, thieves steal packages off porches more often. Thus they are known as porch pirates.

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