whisky plank
n.— «There is, fortunately, a ritual that differs from this wasteful ceremony that is known as the placing of the whisky plank. When the last plank is in place on the hull of a ship which is being built, work is stopped briefly and all hands are poured a tot of whisky to celebrate.» —“Ebb and Flow” by Walter Muhonen Los Angeles Times May 1, 1960. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...