“You look like the wreck of the Hesperus!” It means you look “disheveled, ragged, dirty, hung over, or otherwise less than your best.” It may sound like an odd phrase, but it made perfect sense to generations of schoolchildren familiar with this...
gulch n.— «For Glyn Willacott, there was never a dull moment aboard HMS Cardiff. The 59-year-old served as a weapons engineer between 1982 and 1985, travelling to the Falklands, the Persian Gulf and, of course, back to the ship’s home city of...
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. Transcript of “Three Sheets to the Wind” Martha, we’ve got an email here from David in...
plankowner n.— «All three were members of the commissioning crew—“plankowners,” in Navy parlance—who worked together on the ship’s surface-to-air missile systems.» —“Former crew members take part in Kitty Hawk’s final voyage” by Steve...
weeping tile n.— «Key components to this portion of the project, besides the 6 x 6 lumber, are a perforated four-inch drain pipe (also referred to as weeping tile), course gravel, 10-inch galvanized spikes, a 1/4 inch ship auger and a five-pound...
Q-tip cruise n.—Gloss: a pleasure trip aboard a trip, taken mainly by senior citizens. Note: So named because they have white hair and resemble the white cotton ends of Q-tips. «It was in mid-September 2006, the final cruise of the season for the...