Home >
History of Destin >
Nautical Facts
Ever wonder where a phrase or certain words come from? You would be amazed at the number of sayings and statements we have used for years that
come from nautical talk. Here are a few exerts from the book Salty Dog Talk, written by Bill Beavis and Richard McCloskey.
Scraping the Barrel
Before the days of canned foodstuffs and refrigeration, the ships meat was supplied soaked in brine and stored in casks or barrels. The fat,
which became hard, stuck to the edge of the barrel but in a hungry ship this was never allowed to waste and the cook would have to scrape the
barrel, hence to use the very last, and sometimes the inferior.
Son of a Gun
Complimentary term for a sailor suggesting he was a natural born to the job, or more precisely born on the job. Since the working spaces and
gangways had to be kept clear, the only undisturbed place a woman could give birth to a child would be behind screens between the guns. The
expression also meant being conceived alongside a gun, since a hammock wasn’t convenient for that sort of thing. In cases where the paternity
was uncertain, the child was entered in the deck log as son of a gun.
A Blind Eye
Turning a blind eye stems from the famous incident during the Battle of Copenhagen when Admiral Nelson, as second in command, complained he
could not see the flag signal from his superior which ordered him to break off the bombardment. He had deliberately placed the telescope to his
blind eye, and proceeded to ignore the order, with glorious results.
Chew the Fat
In the days when brine was added to barrels of meat for preservative it had a hardening effect on the fat. It was still edible but it took
considerable chewing, so to chew the fat has come to mean to talk endlessly.
Back to top