Ogre's Politics & Views: Three Sheets to the Wind

Friday, Jan 20, 2006

No, I'm not -- at least not right now. But I'm sure a large number of you have heard this saying and weren't really sure where it came from. Well, since you don't have enough useless knowledge stored in your head, I provide you with some more.

Among nautical folks, a "sheet" refers to the rope used to secure a ship's sail. On the square-rigged ships of yore, three sheets were needed to tie up the sails. So, if all three of the ship's sheets were loose in the wind, the sail would flop about and the ship would go off course -- rather like a drunken sailor staggering around on shore.

And sailors in the early 1800s actually had an entire rating system for drunks -- from 1 sheet to 4 sheets. At 4, you were unconscious.

Just thought you needed to know.

Permanent Link | Filed at 12:02 PM in: Silliness |

Comments:

Mr. Matt said ( 1:06 PM Friday, Jan 20 , 2006) :

Now, that is some useless knowledge I'll be able to use back in a bar to get a few drinks... wait... that's not useless knowledge!

Ogre said ( 3:06 PM Friday, Jan 20 , 2006) :

You can go with the, "Let me show you how this scale works..."

Patty-Jo said ( 1:07 PM Saturday, Jan 21 , 2006) :

I love learning about stuff like this. Thanks for sharing!

joe-6-pack said ( 12:42 AM Wednesday, Jan 25 , 2006) :

Been there, done that, reminds me of a night in New Orleans long ago. And a night in El Paso,...

joe-6-pack said ( 12:44 AM Wednesday, Jan 25 , 2006) :

If you fell overboard, would that be a 5?

Ogre said ( 5:51 AM Wednesday, Jan 25 , 2006) :

I think they'd just stop counting...in fact, if you fell overboard, they might not even notice because everyone else was already at a 4...

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