A description of words and phrases used in the English language

1. Derivation of Nautical terms the STARBOARD side The Right Hand Side of a Ship Looking Forward towards the Bow or Front of a ship. Old English; ‘steobord’ ‘steer-board’, the steer side from which a large steering oar was operated until superseded by the ‘rudder’

2. The Port side The left hand side of the ship looking forward towards the bows. This side of a ship was originally called ‘larboard’ from the Middle English ‘ladebord’. The lading or loading side, as the steering oar projected from the other side the ‘steerbord, starboard side it made it difficult to come alongside. Sailing warships had entry ‘ports’ on this side and the term ‘port’ had been used for some time in order to avoid confusion with the similar sounding ‘starboard’. However, the change was not made ‘official’ by the Admiralty until 1844…

3. Fanny In 1867 The naval Victualling Yards began issuing tinned mutton to the warships, this was not fully appreciated by the sailors of the time. - By chance, in the same year, Frederick Baker a solicitor’s clerk, from Alton in Hampshire, England., enticed a 9 year old girl named ‘Fanny Adams’ away from her friends and murdered her, he later dismembered and disposed of her body.

4. Starting life as a container for meat (of unknown origin) with a wire carrying handle. The sailors nicknamed it a ‘Fanny’ after the missing girl.. Rather than dispose of the container, being good recyclers, the sailors used it for various domestic uses aboard ship, The name has been applied ever since. - The ‘mess fanny‘ for washing up and until the early 70s - the ‘rum fanny’ for collecting the daily issue of rum

5. The Mess “ A space allocated to a number of men for the purposes of eating and sleeping.” The name comes from the 16 th century when hands sat down in groups to “mess from the common pot” derived from the french word ‘mes’ , a dish It was thought that men from the same gun crew would always be in the same mess, this was not so, men could request a change of mess if they did not get on with other members and they wanted to be with their friends. In fact some were ejected from the mess because of their foul language and personal habits so that eventually all the bad eggs were in one basket, so to speak.

6. The Mess had a ‘hierarchy’ the young were treated like surfs, the seniors had their ‘perks’……………. Utensils, plates, cutlery, drinking vessels, were all purchased from the purser. The men would take it in turns to be ‘the cook of the mess’. His task - to keep the mess area clean, daily, to collect the rations from the issuing room on the orlop deck, prepare and ensure delivery to the cook in the galley. At meal times collect the food and ‘issue it’ to his mess members. For this onerous task he received an extra ration of rum

7. To ensure complete fairness when issuing the food, one of his cronies would don a blindfold. A portion of meat would be ‘carved’ and placed on a plate and he would be asked “who’s portion is this” not knowing if the meat was lean, fat or gristle, he would nominate a mess member to receive that ration. This was open to abuse, because with a slight change in the tone of voice or a subtle rap with spoon he could indicate a good or bad portion

8. “ A clean slate” “ Meaning the past is forgotten and a new start will be made.” The expression comes from the days when a slate and chalk was used to record the courses steered, and the distances run during a watch at sea. - At the end of the watch, the details were recorded into the deck log by the officer of the watch and the slate was wiped clean ready for the next watch

9. Watch this space for an explanation of nautical terms, still in use in the English language today. Ron Bannister HMS Victory Corps of Guides 1991-2003