Apocryphal Acronyms of Nebulous, Nautical Nonsense
We have all heard the saying to curse like a sailor. My mom often says it about my generation and our vulgar tongues. We often associated the cursing of sailors to their lack of education, morals, or lack of both. Whether this is a pop culture film of pirates or sailors, it always seems like they are spewing profanity in one form or another.
Most of these phrases we don’t know for sure where they come from. When I talk about them, know I am taking the story that comes to the closest point of nautical origin. So much of history is unknown and the reasons for things are often unknown. Often, there can be several stories that originate to the reason why we do something, each one of them founded in a little bit of truth. I'm here to present to you the options and will give you the research I have conducted, it's up to you to decide which story you choose to believe. Also, I will always encourage you to do your own research. Don't just take my word for it.
Show Notes:
[00:16] Curse like a sailor
We have all heard the saying to curse like a sailor. My mom often says it about my generation and our vulgar tongues. We often associated the cursing of sailors to their lack of education, morals, or lack of both. Whenever this is a pop culture film of pirates or sailors, it always seems like they are spewing profanity in one form or another. Perhaps it's the differentiation of lower-class versus upper class, a distinct language gap that instantly lets you know what part of society the speaker comes from. Or maybe we also garner it from the fact that historically, sailors were just a bunch of dudes surrounded by a bunch of other dudes.
[03:00] Mind your P’s and Q’s
Drinks were often ordered in the form of pints or quarts. You didn't want to get the two mixed up for monetary purposes usually, so the bartender would tell his patrons or even himself to mind his P's and Q's and to not get the two confused.
There are two other possible explanations for this phrase. The first rationale comes from the days of the printing press. As letters on the printing press were created in mirror form, it became particularly important to not confuse the two letters and ruin hundreds of papers. It was a very costly error. Then the third option is also semi-related to sailing and I think I like this one the best. P could stand for peacoat and Q could be referring to what the British Navy used for a low pigtail. Therefore, if you sailed on a tightly run ship, you would have to mind your P's and Q's making sure your peacoat was clean and your queue or ponytail tidy.
[04:25] F.U.C.K.
One of the most common curse words these days also has a well-known origin story and is not directly related to sailing but I would be willing to bet you've heard of it. The word fuck has been said to originate from the acronym Fornification Under Consent of the King, or as an abbreviational acronym, F U C. K. Basically, you had to get permission from the King to indulge in the act of coitus. This was all based on the idea that sex outside of marriage was unlawful, unless of course, you had the authorization of the king. Essentially any military men, including those in the Navy who wish to come ashore and engage in carnal activity could only do so with explicit consent from His Majesty.
[05:28] W.H.A.R.F.
A commonly used word tied into the nautical realm is wharf. Several sources from a London area claim wharf comes from the words Ware House At River Front. And while this is a pretty thought and makes plenty of sense, it's more likely the word comes from the late English word hwearf.
[06:24] How poop relates to nautical nonsense
Ships were designed for two things, to carry goods to sell, and to carry guns and soldiers for battle. One of the less savory goods onboard ships with something we're all familiar with is fertilizer, or formally known as ammonium nitrate. But in fact, ammonium nitrate was first produced in 1659, and being humans as soon as we made it, we tried to sell it. Now the funny thing about ammonium nitrate is that it is extremely stable in most conditions. But one wrong move, and it’s not. For example, a match lit at just the wrong moment could lead to a lot of ruin. Methane gas also isn't very good to inhale in large amounts and can affect your vision, speech, motor skills, or even cause you to pass out. Having been a new invention, sailors at first didn't realize what was causing explosions or people passing out when they went down below. They probably assumed the fallen were drunk, which they probably were.
But that's not the reason they were passing out. They blamed it on one of their numerous superstitions, which if you listen to last week's episode, you can take your pick of any of those. But eventually, someone caught on and they realized it wasn't redheads or women causing the issues. It was the manure.
[08:11] S.H.I.T.
They came to the conclusion that instead of laying the boxes flat, they tried a new method to maintain air stability. They stocked the boxes up high with the words Stack High In Transit written along the side. Stack High In Transit could also have meant to stack the crates up on the higher decks to allow for more airflow. This phrase printed on the side of boxes was soon abbreviated to the acronym S.H.I.T - Stack High In Transit.
