Dressing Down: Treatment of thin or worn sails with oil or wax; sailors who were reprimanded received a �dressing down�
Footloose: If the bottom part of a sail (the foot) is not secure, it flies randomly in the wind
Booby Hatch: A sliding door or hatch
First Rate: Ship with 100 or more guns, a first rate warship was considered the best
Pipe Down: Last signal piped by the bo�sun for that day; meant �lights out�
Leeway: A lee shore is downwind of a ship; if a ship does not have enough �leeway�, she is in danger of running aground
Windfall: Sudden unexpected rush of wind that gives a ship more leeway
Groggy: Grog was a mixture of water and rum that was rationed to sailors; if one was �groggy� they have had too much grog
Three Sheets to the Wind: On a fully rigged ship; if the sheets on the three lower coarse sails are loose, they will flap around uncontrollably, making the ship hard to control
As the Crow Flies: Ships lost near land would release a caged crow, which would fly straight for the nearest land
Skyscraper: Small triangular sail set above the skysail
Bitter End: The end of an anchor cable that is fastened to the ship�s bow
Toe the line: When sailors lined up at attention, they lined their toes up at a seam in the deck
Overhaul: Buntlines were hauled over the sails to prevent them from chafing the sails
Bear Down: To rapidly sail downwind towards a target
Overbearing: Sail directly at a ship downwind, stealing the wind from its sails
Taking the Wind out of his Sails: Sailing in a way that would steal wind from another ships sails
Let the Cat out of the Bag: Flogging was a common punishment in the royal navy. It was done with a cat o� nine tails, which was stored in a red bag. When a flogging was to take place, the cat had to be �let out of the bag�.
No Room to Swing a Cat: Also refers to flogging; it could be very crowded on board the ship, and the Bo�sun�s mate might not have enough room to swing the cat o� nine tails
Taken Aback: If a ship was allowed to head into the wind, the sails were pressed against the masts. This was a very dangerous situation.
Garbled: Garbling was the practice of mixing rubbish with a ship�s cargo.
Touch and Go: The ship�s keel sometimes touched bottom and got right off again.
Scuttlebutt: The barrel where sailors got their drinking water. Gossip was often exchanged at the scuttlebutt, something like the office water cooler.
Give (someone) a Wide Berth: Drop anchor far enough from a ship so that the two ships don�t hit each other when moved by the wind or tide.
Start Over with a Clean Slate: Information to be put in the ship�s log would be written on a slate near the helm. The slate would usually be wiped clean at the end of each watch.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: There are several explanations for this one. One is that the devil was the curved seam in the deck planking closest to the side of the ship near the scuppers. If you slipped, u could wind up �between the devil and the deep blue sea�.
The Devil to Pay and no Hot Pitch (also just �Paying� the Devil): �Paying� the deck seams meant sealing them with tar. The devil was the most difficult to pay, and �paying the devil� was not a desirable job.
Davy Jones' Locker: Davy Jones is the evil spirit of the sea. Davy Jones' locker is the bottom of the sea, to go to Davy Jones' locker is to be drowned or buried at sea.
