Three sheets to the wind!
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There Are 13 Comments for “Three sheets to the wind!”
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rrrrr…..make “me” look like a Rock Star teacher.
Here is another nautical term for you. Can you tell me what “marry the lines” means and its origin? We always marry the lines in Port. Also another is Starboard, can you tell me what that means and where it comes from?
Marina,
We are going to make a sailor out of you yet. __/)__
Loved the video. In fact my good friend Capt. Richard Rodriguez at the blog posted this video today.
http://captrichardrodriguez.blogspot.com/2008/04/n autical-terms-three-sheets-to-wind.html
Richard’s blog covers subjects relating to the maritime industry and regular boating. Currently there is concern discussions about the US largest ferry system is in trouble. Capt. Richard has had articles posted on about the Whaling demonstration issues. And much more.
Marina I hope the link helps you out. I know it moves you up on Google’s ranking algorithms.
~~ ___ /) __~~
oops that got all screwed up.
Sorry folks. Can’t fix it. 
Well shiver me timbers. I had the sheets confused with the shroud lines. Abandon ship! Lubber at the helm! AAAaaaaugh!
Example —
http://www.layline.com/category/528
I don’t know to what extent all this stuff is documented, but a sheet does mean a sail, and at least one common reason why a line would be called a “sheet” is it is short for “sheet line”. For example, since the line itself is not really thing thing that is important to the ships movement, they would just refer to it as the sheet which it is meant to pull.
Halyard, by contrast, is the line that hauls the yard, which happens to be the arm that holds the sheet. So when you haul or lower the yard, you are perforce hauling up or lowering the sheet.
So, when you are three sheets to the wind, it is the sail that is to the wind.
I feel this strongly because frankly, the reference to a line being “to the wind” is a weak one. The line is more likely to be referred to as loose or some such, rather than “to the wind”.
Now, I’m not the philologist in the house, but that whole “line to the wind” thing just strikes me as a touch awkward.
roachmeistercom, on a ship they call the lines “sheets”.. and the term comes from sailors…. so if sailors (not regular people, but SAILORS) refer to lines as “sheets” and sails as sails.. then the expression would have been .. “three sails to the wind”.. but it isn’t.. it’s “three sheets to the wind”… that’s why we know it refers to the lines.. not the sails. Land folk, like us, think it refers to the sails because we don’t “speak their language”
LOL!
I surely am pleasantly surprised to see you found this crazy comment.
It’s funny to me that the etymology of sheet as it relates to the sheet lines still seems to support my idea though…
[Origin: 1300–50; ME shete, shortening of OE scéatlīne, equiv. to scéat(a) lower corner of a sail (see sheet1) + līne line1, rope; c. LG schote]
scéatlīne is a sheetline meaning the line that is attached to the lower corner of the sail (Sheet).
Etymology is very confusing…. Thanks for playing along though. It will always niggle at the back of my mind, but you have done the most any normal person could do to allay my doubts about this phrase!
I’m… relatively stubborn. “So what ALL sailors say so??? That doesn’t make it right!”
Yeah, I’m pretty bad.
I really wanted to agree with you, roachmeistercom. Those were my miss-perceptions, too. Debunking perceptions and assumptions with knowledge can be painful. I remembered the <a href=”http://www.cga.edu/display.aspx?id=2558″<Coa st Guard Academy’s sailing ship and looked it up. The picture shows 3 masts and many sails. So, I guess I’m going to say, “Lesson learned.”
i love the fact you showed that pic of kevin cosnter.
That’s Kiefer Sutherland, not Kevin Costner.
wow… thats what i ment. Its kinda funny that I could get those two people mixed up.