Samuel
finally figured out why SSB is called that when reading a naval history book, of all things. It’s a gossip protocol!
Excerpt from “The Wager” by David Grann During the age of sail, when wind-powered vessels were the only bridge across the vast oceans, nautical language was so pervasive that it was adopted by those on terra firma. To "toe the line" derives from when boys on a ship were forced to stand still for inspection with their toes on a deck seam. To "pipe down" was the boatswain's whistle for everyone to be quiet at night, and "piping hot" was his call for meals. A "scuttlebutt" was a water cask around which the seamen gossiped while waiting for their rations. A ship was "three sheets to the wind" when the lines to the sails broke and the vessel pitched drunkenly out of control. To "turn a blind eye" became a popular expression after Vice-Admiral Nelson deliberately placed his telescope against his blind eye to ignore his superior's signal flag to retreat. 3 3 58
Samuel
@samuel.fm
(having now read the Wikipedia article that makes perfect sense. still, fun to independently figure it out)
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Samuel
also, it’s called that because it’s a water butt that has been “scuttled”—aka that has a hole in the bottom to let water in/out!
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