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Jargon Have we got jargon!
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Our Flag:
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The
Boating tradition is full of its own very special jargon - a rope is
hardly ever called a rope; it's a line, halyard, sheet, rode, or pennant.
It's only a rope if it's a bolt rope, a tiller rope or a foot rope!
Our English language has been enriched from nautical terms. Did you know that "cranky" originally came from a "crank-sided" ship, one that heels over too easily. A "hotshot" was a heated cannonball. Combine those traditions with an organization that loves short forms, and you get;
The starboard side is called that because the steering board used to be on that side, as many know. From the USPS Ensign: "Because the left side of the early vessels was always the dock side for fear of damaging the steering oar, a door was cut in that side to facilitate bringing stores aboard. The British called stores 'larder', and this side became the larder side. Very soon, this was corrupted into 'larboard' side."In the din of combat, the similarity of these terms created costly mistakes, so the French system of calling it the 'door side' was adopted. 'La port' is 'door' in French." Not many Canadians need an explanation of the meaning of "port" in French. The source was the Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, edited by Peter Keemp." Bob Anglin (from the CPS mailist)
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