From ye ol’ source… to be distorted or mixed up Garbling was the prohibited practice of mixing rubbish with the cargo.
View More Nautical Phrase/Term Wednesday: GarbledTag: Sailing
Nautical Phrase/Term Wednesday: Freeze the B@!!$ Off A Brass Monkey
A special one for Kevin Z’s time aboard a tall ship… On ships, cannon balls were sometimes stacked in what was called a monkey, usually…
View More Nautical Phrase/Term Wednesday: Freeze the B@!!$ Off A Brass MonkeyKevin Z…21st Century Darwin
Duke News and Communications just put up a press release about the Beagle Project! “In an inspiring mix of 19th and 21st Century technologies, a…
View More Kevin Z…21st Century DarwinFollowing in Darwin’s Footsteps
In only a couple weeks The HMS Beagle Project will conduct a feasibility study for doing modern oceanographic research aboard a sailing ship. The Brazilian…
View More Following in Darwin’s FootstepsA Flagship for Science in a New Age of Sail
Karen James, director of science for the The Beagle Project, has published a letter (subscription required) in the taxonomy journal Zoologica Scripta outlining the reasons…
View More A Flagship for Science in a New Age of SailWednesday Nautical Phrase/Term: Stern Lecture
to be reprimanded The quarterdeck at the stern of the ship was officer’s country. A sailor didn’t go there unless he had work to do…
View More Wednesday Nautical Phrase/Term: Stern LectureWednesday Nautical Term/Phrase: Cranky
To be irritable. “Dr. M. is cranky because it is before 10AM and he has not had coffee” From Brian Berlin…“Possibly from the Dutch krengd,…
View More Wednesday Nautical Term/Phrase: CrankyWednesday Nautical Phrase or Term: Above the Board
meaning: openly, without trickery From Brian Berlin… A trick, common to warships and pirates alike, both of which had very large crews, was to keep…
View More Wednesday Nautical Phrase or Term: Above the BoardWednesday Nautical Terms and Phrases: Bamboozle
to deceive I knew of the scene in Malcolm X, where Denzel Washington states “Every election year, these politicians are sent up here to pacify…
View More Wednesday Nautical Terms and Phrases: BamboozleWednesday Nautical Terms and Phrases: Square Meal
a substantial, balanced, and satisfying meal like biscuits n’ gravy or turkey n’ stuffin’, rib sticking food like mama only makes. From Brian Berlin In…
View More Wednesday Nautical Terms and Phrases: Square Meal