Language and the Navy

A1, Aback, Admiral

Where do so many of our commonplace sayings come from? Well, a lot of them come from our seafaring ancestors.

When Lloyds of London was founded by a group of marine insurance brokers they devised a system of grading ships and cargoes; ships by letter and cargoes by number.

“A” meant ship perfect, “1”cargo likewise, so we came to use the expression “A1” as meaning perfect, or the best.

Aback

“Aback” is slightly more involved, it being derived from a purely sailing ship term. When a square rigged sailing vessel suddenly caught the wind on the wrong side of her sails she would be stopped dead, or even driven astern. So a person taken by surprise is “taken aback”.

There are a great many words and phrases used in modern language that derive from the nautical, mainly the old sailing ship era. We use them quite happily because we know what they mean in a modern context, but haven’t the faintest notion of their origins.

Admiral

Hands up all those who know that this word originated from the Arabic “Amir”-ruler, “bahr”-sea. An Arabian sea commander was an Amir al Bahr or “ruler of the sea”. When we play the game, or fight, “to the bitter end”, we are once again using an expression attributable to ships and sailors. The bitt was a large timber to which the anchor chain or rope was secured. Therefore, when this chain or rope was let out as far as it would go it was known to have been payed out to the bitter end. “Bulls eye” also has a nautical connection. A bull’s eye on a sailing ship was a round or oval wooden block with a hole in the centre through which a rope would be led. The centre spot of a target has a resemblance to this block, as also the block has to an actual bull’s eye, hence the connection.

Taken Down a Peg

How often have we heard of someone being “taken down a peg”? Many times no doubt, but how often have we pondered the origins of this expression? It would seem to have started life in the tuning of stringed instruments, but gained strength through, once again, a custom in the Royal Navy. The height of a ship’s flag or colours, was regulated by the pegs on the hoisting line. The higher the flag the greater the importance of the visiting dignitary. Therefore, the lower down the scale of the visitor the lower the flag. Taking the flag “down a peg” decreased his honour.