[Ads-l] "that ship has sailed"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

This 1845 citation helps to illustrate the history of the nautical
metaphor. The phrase "taking their passage when the ship has sailed"
corresponds to tardy actions. The 1845 tract by James Hamilton which
contained the phrase was widely reprinted. The key passage appeared in
newspapers 32 times between 1849 and 1920 in England, Ireland,
Australia, and the U.S.

Date: June 1845
Periodical: The Congregational Magazine
Section: Reviews
Review of 7 tracts by James Hamilton of National Scotch Church
Tract title: Life in Earnest: Six Lectures on Christian Activity and Ardour
Start Page 455, Quote Page 458 and 459
Publisher: Jackson and Walford, London

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Congregational_magazine_formerly_The/Rw8EAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA458

[Begin except]
Others there are, who if you find them at their post, you will find
them dozing at it.
... too late for everything, taking their passage when the ship has
sailed, insuring their property when the house is burned, locking the
door when the goods are stolen;--men, whose bodies seem to have
started in the race of existence before their minds were ready, and
who are always gazing out vacantly, as if they expected their wits
were coming up by the next arrival.--Life in Earnest, pp. 11, 12.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 12:02 AM Martin Schneider
<000024dc089a88e9-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> Seems a little unfair, when the chart speaks so clearly. Sure, you found 2
> examples, one of them from six months earlier.
>
> On Mon, Jul 27, 2026 at 11:59 PM Rich Lowenthal <
> 000018596069864c-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > 2000 is pretty late for "that ship has sailed."
> >
> > From Lawrence J. White, "The S&L Debacle: Public Policy Lessons for Bank
> > and Thrift Regulation" (1991), p. 250, note 41:
> >
> > "Separate regulatory agencies would give more room for creativity and
> > independent development of new approaches to regulatory problems; see
> > Benston (1984) and Fischel, Rosenfeld, and Stillman (1987). The same
> > argument could be made for maintaining a separate insurance fund for
> > thrifts; alas, that ship has sailed and is unlikely to return."
> >
> > And the New York Times, July 18, 1999:
> >
> > "Two years after Art Modell moved his team from Cleveland to Baltimore,
> > one of the most controversial acts in the history of the National
> > Football League, he was asked if he felt his chances of being elected to
> > the Hall of Fame had evaporated. ''I think that ship has sailed,'' he
> > said."
> >
> >
> > ------ Original Message ------
> > From "Martin Schneider"
> > <000024dc089a88e9-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Date 7/27/2026 11:39:17 PM
> > Subject "that ship has sailed"
> >
> > >Watching For All Mankind, the Apple TV series about, well, the race to the
> > >moon, and a character says "That ship has sailed." The year is 1970.
> > >
> > >Sounded out of time to me, but I was shocked by how much. Google NGR says
> > >2000 and after only! What?
> > >
> > >Green's doesn't have anything on it. What do you suppose the inciting
> > >incident was on that one?
> > >
> > >------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
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