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Other Important Nautical Terms and Expressions
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Clean Slate:

It was the custom in sailing ships to record courses, distances and tacks on a log slate. The new watch would always start with a clean slate if things had been growing fine, disregarding what had gone before and starting anew. In a similar way, today we refer to a new beginning as starting with a "clean slate."
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

(Flogging a dead horse:

The term "flogging a dead horse" alludes to the difficulty of getting any extra work from a crew during a celebration held by British crews when they had been at sea four weeks and had worked off their initial advance (often one month's pay). At the expiration of the first month of the voyage, it was at one time customary to hoist in the rigging a canvas effigy of a horse. Today, "dead horse" refers to a debt to the government and/or advance of salary.
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Salty Dog
Sailing Master
Posts: 10060



191991 Gold -

PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dragging your anchor:

When a vessel is caught in a storm and heading for land or rocks, they would drop anchor to try to avoid running aground. If the anchor did not grip, it would drag along the bottom. Today the expression refers to being impeded by something or of behaving or acting in a tired or slow manner.
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