Jennifer from Traverse City, Michigan, asks about using reef to mean applying a lot of force or torque, as in reefing on a stuck window or stubborn jar. This regional verb likely comes from the sailing use of reef, to reduce a sail by taking in part of it, a job that can involve vigorous pulling or jerking. The Dictionary of American Regional English has citations from the northern United States, including Michigan and the Great Lakes, going back to the mid-1950s. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of ““To Reef” Also Means to Tug, Pry, or Push Hard”
Hi, you have Awe With Words.
Hi, Martha. This is Jennifer. I’m calling from Traverse City, Michigan.
Hey, Jennifer. Welcome.
What’s up? What can we do for you?
I have a question about the word reef, R-E-E-F, and I’m just wondering if you can help me understand some current usage of that word.
Ooh, yes, please.
I have been married to my husband for 19 years, and I think that this word might come from his family because a lot of my friends and family, of my own friends and my own family, do not know this word. So I’m not sure if it’s a family word or where this word, the usage of this word has kind of originated from.
And how do you use it?
I guess the best way to describe it is if the word reef is being used as if you’re applying a lot of pressure or a lot of torque in order to open something or pry something open, something of that nature.
Oh, so you would be reefing?
Yes.
So reefing a jar or reefing a window that’s stuck or something like that?
Exactly. Yes, exactly.
Is your husband’s family, are they sailors?
My husband actually was in the Navy for a couple of years, and he does have an uncle who was in the Navy as well, but I believe that’s as far as it goes.
Here’s why I asked that question, because we’re pretty sure that this use of reef comes from sailing originally, and we find it in citations in the Dictionary of American Regional English throughout the northern part of the United States. But when you reef in sailing, you take off part of a sail that’s meant to be taken off in order to reduce the amount of surface area so that the boat doesn’t go as fast, basically. And that’s reefing. And it requires very vigorous motion to do that. There’s a certain kind of jerking, I think, that you do to get it off there. And the citations for this go back to the mid-1950s. So it’s probably older than that. And I would not be surprised if he learned this just from his environment, probably not from the Navy, because the citations are literally from your part of the country. Like the Dictionary of American Regional English shows Michigan citations and Great Lakes citations. So it’s probably maybe it’s sailors on the Great Lakes use this. I don’t know.
Yeah, I knew it had some kind of nautical reference. I’m not a big sailor, so I didn’t know exactly what it meant. And when I was finding some of my own friends and family were surprised by this word, I did go and look it up in the dictionary, and I didn’t see this kind of definition for it. I did see the nautical term, and so I suspected it maybe had roots there, but I wasn’t sure.
Yeah, that’s why we have all these words in our daily vocabulary, which are not recorded in mainstream dictionaries because they’re not widely used, but they’re widely enough used that specialty dictionaries like the Dictionary of American Regional English will put them in print for exactly the reason that we’re here today, which is plenty of people use it, just not everybody. So, yeah, it comes from sailing. It means to push or pull with a lot of force.
Oh, well, great. Thank you so much for clarifying that.
Yeah, sure. Thanks for calling. I really appreciate it.
Thanks for calling. Take care now.
Absolutely. You too.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
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