[Ads-l] Nautical/naval jargon etc.

[Laurence Horn]

I wonder when the first cite is for the always handy pretext “The sun is over the yardarm…somewhere”.   

LH

> On Oct 3, 2022, at 12:30 AM, James Eric Lawson <jel at NVENTURE.COM> wrote:
> 
> Crosslinked from yardarm, e, in OEDO, is sun, phrases, f, "the sun is
> over the yardarm (also foreyard) and variants: it is time for the first
> alcoholic drink of the day", with the earliest citation from 1839 in
> Burton's "A Cape Codder Among the Mermaids".
> 
> The phrase had been established in the sense promoted by OEDO at least
> as early as 1835, and was probably established much earlier:
> 
> N. Ames, "An Old Sailors Yarns":
> 
> By way of commentary to his speech, the Yankee commander called to the
> steward to "bring up the case bottle, &c. and the molasses jug,"
> observing, that "although he knew that the Albatrosses didn't require
> any Dutch courage, the sun was over the fore-yard, and it was grog time
> in all Christian countries."
> 
> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433082174719&view=1up&seq=304&skin=2021&q1=over%20the%20fore%20yard
> 
> A noteworthy earlier example, wherein the phrase is clearly associated
> with a time, but not so clearly with the time to start drinking, appears
> in an item chockful of nautical terms in the Portland gazette and Maine
> advertiser, April 06, 1807. A substantially revamped article appears
> five years later, 1812, in the same journal:
> 
> Then my brave fellows, turn out when the watch is called—obey the signal
> that was made the Sunday before last for all hands to repair to the Dock
> This Day, about the time that the sun gets over the fore
> yard.
> 
> 1807:
> https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016082/1807-04-06/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1777&index=1&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=fore+over+yard&proxdistance=5&date2=1849&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=over+the+fore+yard&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
> 
> Now hark-ee, Ship-mates—as soon as the sun is over
> the fore-yard, heave a head—get under way—give three Cheers,
> and steer for the old Rendezvous; and there, one and all,
> vote for our old Commander, CALEB STRONG, Esquire—as
> good a man as ever walked the quarter deck.
> 
> 1812:
> https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016082/1812-04-04/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1777&index=1&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=fore-yard+over&proxdistance=5&date2=1849&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=over+the+foreyard&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
> 
> OEDO attests "yardarm and (or to) yardarm" for close ships as early as 1666.
> 
> On 10/2/22 08:33, victor steinbok wrote:
>> While checking out some unrelated issues, I came across a few nautical
>> terms and phrases on succession that might require OED research. I lack
>> resources to chase down these leads further
>> 
>> First, it's "sun over the yard-arm". Easily found in Wiki, the phrase
>> refers to a particular time of day, generally, although the specific time
>> depends on location and heading. But, with time, it became the rather fixed
>> time when sailors got their first tot of rum. Wiki points to a relatively
>> late first OED quotation from Kipling but I could not find the phrase or
>> the quotation in online OED. Wiki also points to an earlier 1883 quotation.
>> However, I found an 1869 quotation, specifically explicated as drinking
>> time, in 1869 Our Life in Japan, which has subsequently suffered multiple
>> editions. nGrams points to 1867 as the earliest citing but offers no actual
>> citation.
>> 
>> Subsequently, I also looked in OED at "yardarm and yardarm" as an
>> expression for close quarters fighting. The quotations go pretty far back,
>> but I found another citation under "Cara sposa". The first quotation (the
>> one with "yardarm and yardarm") is 1750 IIRC. The second is 1793. There's a
>> further catch. The definition for "Cara sposa" gives "wife or close female
>> companion". That is indeed the use in *later* quotations. But these two
>> very clearly refer to a *male* companion, i.e., "ship wife". I don't have
>> the resources to delve further, at the moment, but I would suggest a closer
>> inspection to see if this is more than a mere coincidence. It is quite
>> possible (and likely, in my view) that the earlier use was indeed
>> euphemistic but picked up as literal in later nautical fiction. There seems
>> to be no natural cause to use an Italian term like that in naval jargon,
>> which is why I suspect the change in meaning. Perhaps all this is
>> well-known already and I'm rebel-rousing for nothing.
>> 
>> Finally, I know that this topic has been put to rest already but is there a
>> "yard" connection to the "whole nine yards"? A clipper might have seven
>> yards. Late 19th century ships might have more. Definitely not my area of
>> expertise by any stretch.
>> 
>> VS
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> -- 
> James Eric Lawson
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org