Free Salty Dog Talk by Bill Beavis

the western world by Captain Cook who described it in his journal after a visit to Tahiti in 1764. He also brought back Robert Stainsby, a seaman from the Endeavour who had allowed the natives to tattoo his body. From the Tahitian word and meaning to prick.
Tell it to the Marines
    The diarist and secretary to the Royal Navy, Samuel Pepys, while relating to King Charles II in 1664 some of the stories told to him by the captain of HMS Defyance , mentioned the existence of flying fish. The courtiers present refused to believe this, but an officer of the Maritime Regiment of Foot, Sir William Kellegrew who was present, insisted that it was true for he had also seen them. The king is then reported to have said ‘From the nature of their calling no class of our subjects can have so wide a knowledge of seas and lands as the Officers and Men of our Loyal Maritime Regiment. Henceforth ere we cast doubts upon a take that lacks likelihood we will first Tell it to the Marines !’ The expression took on a cynical meaning when explained to the seamen of the lower deck, and ever since it has been used as a statement of disbelief .
    It proved very useful to newspaperman Malcolm Muggeridge who remembered using it to fool a Kremlin censor. Obliged to report accurately the announcement that Russia was spending just 2% of her budget on defence he added the comment ‘suggest you inform marines’. Incidentally, marines are called leathernecks because of their uniform caps which once had a leather tongue to protect the back of the neck.

    Taken aback
Three Mile Limit
    The arguments between nations as to how much of the sea surrounding their coastline should belong to them was settled by a compromise suggestion from Bynkershoek in his book De Dominio Marks published in 1702. He proposed that a country should exercise control only over the amount of water she could defend from the shore. This was agreed to be 3 miles, the range of the smooth bore cannon.
Three Sheets in the Wind
    Sails are controlled with ropes called sheets and the most any sail has is two – a lee side sheet and a weather sheet. The sailor’s contention is that if a man who had been drinking was given as many as three sheets he could still not steady or control himself on a regular course. An alternative idea is that of a ship caught with three (jib) sheets in the wind as she goes from one tack to the other. The sails would flap and the ship would wallow and stagger in the locomotion of a drunk.

    Tell it to the marines
Tide Over
    From the days of sail and with special reference to the English Channel where outward bound ships could make very little progress against the incoming tidal stream and the prevailing south west wind. In such conditions they would frequently tide over or anchor for those hours when the tide was against them. Hence to rest up and let the difficulties sort themselves out.
Tidy
    The word is derived from tide hence the meaning of being well arranged and methodical as associated with tides. We still use the word in a seasonal connection: even tide , spring tide , etc.
Ton
    In about the year 1500 many ships were built for the wine trade then carried in wooden casks or tuns (from the French word tonneau ) and standardised at 2240 lb. The ships were measured and assessed according to the number of tuns they could carry. Hence the word ton became the measure of capacity for ships, and the measurement of weight ashore.
Touch and Go
    Sailing barges trading the rivers and estuaries of the East Coast of Britain carried only two men as crew and were unable to ‘sound’ the depth of water. They managed by the simple expedient of running the barge to the side of the river or channel until they felt it touch the bottom, then promptly go about onto the other tack. The sudden change in direction and the force of a fifty ton barge slewing round was usually sufficient to ensure they kept going, but sometimes of course the barge would become stuck. From this comes the