Did you know the phrase "Mind your Ps and Qs" derives from the custom of keeping tabs on the "pints and quarts" sailors drank in waterfront taverns? Or that the term "Yankee" derives from "yanker," a Dutch word for "wrangler" that was often applied to argumentative American sea captains? Or that the mild British expletive "bloody" is a corruption of the pious oath "By Our Lady," once common among British sailors? The drawings of Cedric Windas, dating from the mid 1930s to the late 1940s, illustrate the origins of hundreds ...
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Did you know the phrase "Mind your Ps and Qs" derives from the custom of keeping tabs on the "pints and quarts" sailors drank in waterfront taverns? Or that the term "Yankee" derives from "yanker," a Dutch word for "wrangler" that was often applied to argumentative American sea captains? Or that the mild British expletive "bloody" is a corruption of the pious oath "By Our Lady," once common among British sailors? The drawings of Cedric Windas, dating from the mid 1930s to the late 1940s, illustrate the origins of hundreds of words and phrases that have made their way from naval jargon into everyday language, as well as those that haven't but have interesting origins, nonetheless. Also illustrated are beginnings of the many traditions that are commonly associated with naval life, including tattooing, the design of uniforms and the use of hammocks aboard ship, among many others.
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