Where does the saying "three sheets to the wind" come from?
As I understand it, a ship without out its three sails, or sheets, will wander aimlessly throughout the ocean, much like a drunk will wander aimlessly throughout the streets.
As Michael Quinion sheets aren't sails, they're ropes, at least in seafaring terminology.
What's with the sailing terms here lately? If you haven't gotten your sails tied down so they hold the wind, you're not going to get anywhere, mos sails have at least 3 lines or ropes that need to be secured to catch the wind (at least in a triangular sale.) That's a likely use for the term which should be used about time to take your friend's car keys away. I suspect the current interest in pirates is bilging these words that have sunken below the horizon on most vistas. Arrr. (Hmmm, how many R's are there in Arrr?)
Sailing is a bonanza of neat terminology. Ropes are just ropes until they have a purpose on a boat then they become "lines". "Sheets" are lines that control the orientation of a sail to the wind. The typical sloop has three "sheets" that provide control: a main-sheet for the mainsail and two sheets attached to the jib or the head-sail. There is a port jib-sheet and a starboard jib-sheet. The one in use is usually the one opposite the direction from which the wind is blowing.
Smart sailors tie a "stopper-knot" in the end of each sheet so that it cannot run out of through its "block" (pulley) and fly off loose in the breeze if it becomes unfastened. Having all three "sheets to the wind" means you have lost complete control of the boat since all three sheets are out of their blocks blowing in the breeze where they cannot be retrieved.