"Welcome, You Scallywag." What does Scallywag mean?

One day, a few years back, I decided to find out what the expression “The Whole Nine Yards” meant.  It always bothered me why it wasn’t “The Whole Ten Yards.”  You Know, football, etc.  Well, I’ve been a boater all of my life, and when I found out the real meaning of the expression, I was pleasantly surprised and very excited about its correlation with the boating world.

There are many Expressions, Terms and Phrases, that have been put into everyday use that originated from the days of seafaring with a sail.  Virtually all of the original nautical meanings are now forgotten.   The influence of other languages and other cultures is evident in many of the long list of English phrases that have nautical origins.

We are very lucky that many of the activities at sea have been recorded over the centuries, in insurance records, newspaper accounts and in ship’s log books.  The term log book has an interesting origination.  An early form of measuring a ship’s progress was by throwing a wooden board, or the log, overboard, with a line attached.  The rate at which the line was let out as the ship moved away from the stationary log, was measured by counting how long it took between knots in the line.  These measurements were later put into a book.  That is where the term Log Book and also the name “Knot”, as a unit of speed came from.

There are many more fascinating Expressions, Terms and Phrases to learn about in this educational blog.   And, you will educate yourself, just as you would, if you attend; Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown or The University of Pennsylvania,  and attain a master’s degree or even a doctorial degree in the subject:  “Expressions, Terms and Phrases of Ancient Nautical Sayings and There Relationship To Today’s Society.”   

Have fun, because I am having a ball, introducing you to this fascinating stuff!!!!!!!!!