Where does the saying "three sheets to the wind" come from?
If a tippler has one too many, he's said to be "three sheets to the wind." But why three? And why, of all things, sheets? This is part of a complete episode.
A wedding photographer says she happens to run into lots of people who are three sheets to the wind, and wonders why that term came to mean "falling-down drunk." Turns out, it's from nautical terminology. On a seagoing vessel, the term sheets refers to the lines or ropes that hold the sails in place. If one, two, or even three sheets get loose and start flapping in the wind, the boat will swerve and wobble as much as someone who's overimbibed. This is part of a complete episode.
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.