A.W.A.D. - Nautical Terminology

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." These timeless words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French author and aviator, sum up what it means to lead. How tight a ship do you run? Are you the mainstay for your organization or just a figurehead?

This week we'll feature five words that have their origins in nautical terminology.

mainstay
PRONUNCIATION: (MAYN-stay)
MEANING: noun: A chief support or main part.

ETYMOLOGY: On a sailing ship, the mainstay is a strong rope that secures the mainmast. The noun stay (a heavy rope) is from Old English.

figurehead
PRONUNCIATION: (FIG-yuhr-hed, FIG-uhr-hed)
MEANING: noun: A person who is head of a group in name only, having no authority or responsibility.

ETYMOLOGY: The term is derived from the figurative use of the term figurehead which is an ornamental carving, usually of a human figure, on the bow of a ship. From Latin figure (form, shape) + Old English heafod (top of the body).

steerage
PRONUNCIATION: (STEER-ij)
MEANING: noun: The part of a ship offered to those traveling at the cheapest rate.

ETYMOLOGY: From the fact that originally this section was located near the rudder of the ship.

limpet
PRONUNCIATION: (LIM-pit)
MEANING: noun:
1. Any of various low conical-shelled marine mollusks that adhere tightly to rocks
2. One that clings stubbornly

ETYMOLOGY:From Middle English lempet, from Latin lampreda (lamprey).

keelhaul
PRONUNCIATION:(KEEL-hawl)
MEANING: verb tr.:
1. To haul under the keel of a ship
2. To rebuke sharply

ETYMOLOGY: From Dutch kielhalen, from kiel (keel) + halen (to haul). In the olden times this form of punishment was inflicted in the Dutch and British navies. The punished sailor was tied to a rope looped under the ship and thrown in the water. Then he was dragged along the bottom of the ship to the other side. The result was either severe injuries from brushing against the barnacles on the ship's bottom or death from drowning. Thankfully, in modern times keelhauling is performed only metaphorically.

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