10 words that prove that English is just ship talk
From quarantine to groggy, we use boating terms all the time in modern English—and we don’t even know it. Each of these words actually has its own fascinating history. So today, I’ll be looking at nautical terms in English, as found in “When a Loose Cannon Flogs a Dead Horse There’s the Devil to Pay” by Olivia A. Isil.
In looking at these phrases of nautical origin, we learn a bit about the past and the present.
▶ CHAPTERS
0:02 Quarantine
1:06 ROPE: A BIG DEAL (APPARENTLY)
1:10 Learn the ropes
1:35 Lifeline
2:05 Until the bitter end
2:44 Make ends meet
3:26 GUYS WITH WEIRD NAMES
3:34 Groggy
4:21 Fudge
5:07 INSULTS & DIRTY WORDS
5:15 Son of a gun
6:06 Sloppy
6:43 Cranky
7:25 Filibuster
▶ ABOUT LOWER ED
Lower Ed is an edutainment video series that looks at big questions about culture, media, history, and other topics in the humanities.
▶ IMAGES
Bollard_aboard_the_RV_Thomas_G._Thompson.jpg by Joe Mabel
SS Stevens main deck bow 01.jpg by Bill Walendzinski
Mannequin with jeans.jpg by Lion Hirth (Prissantenbär)
▶ HASHTAGS
#etymology #history #english #idioms #nautical #boating #quarantine #words #ships #ocean #education