A cumshaw artist is that clever, resourceful person in a military unit who always seems to manage to procure whatever’s needed. This term apparently derives from similar-sounding words in Mandarin, kan hsieh, or kam-si?, in the language spoken...
After hanging out with San Diego sailing enthusiasts, Martha picked up several bits of slang and jargon. Catenary describes the desirable curve of an anchor chain, from Latin catena, meaning “chain.” A chain that is not pulled up...
There’s a story going around that the word posh derives from “Port Out, Starboard Home.” Don’t fall for it. This is part of a complete episode.
port shopping n.— «Port shopping occurs when an import shipment is rejected by FDA officials, the exporter simply ships those products to another port of entry hoping to be one of the 97% that are not inspected.» —“FDA Proposal for...
bouncer n.— «It is absolutely amazing to me how badly boaters—especially liveaboards—are being discriminated against in SoCal and beyond. Even worse is the uneven treatment of those boaters port authorities have called “bouncers”—which I...
swallow the anchor v. phr.— «Where you see yourself in five years: We’ll be back on the boat somewhere. I don’t know where. But I think we’ll keep the house and rent it out; this will always be our home port, our land lock—swallowing the...