SHIVER ME TIMBERS (expression denoting surprise or disbelief)
Presumably, this expression alludes to a ship's striking a rock or shoal so hard that her timbers shiver.
SKIPPER (Leader, boss)
The captain or master of a ship is called SKIPPER. The word is from Britain during the fourteenth century and is thought to come from the Dutch "schipper" (captain). The term SKIPPER is frequently applied to a person of leadership or authority.
THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND (an intoxicated state)
On a square-rigged sailing ship, a SHEET is a line attached to the lower corners of a squaresail, used for trimming it to the wind. When sheets are allowed to run free, the sails lose their wind and flap and flutter. The ship's forward motion stops and as she loses steerageway, she becomes impossible to control, thus "THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND"!!
CHEWING THE FAT (idle gabbing)
In the old days of wooden ships and iron men, crews talked and grumbled while CHEWING THE FAT, or eating their daily ration of brine-toughened pork. CHEWING THE FAT is a nautical expression that lost its negativity when it washed ashore. It has come to mean an idle, friendly talk.
BY THE BOARDS (missed opportunity)
When a ship's mast falls over the side and is carried away, it is said to have gone by the boards - literally by the wooden deck and hull planking. Figuratively, the expression means something that has passed by, particularly a missed opportunity.
SUN IS OVER THE YARDARM (time for happy hour to begin)
This expression is thought to have originated by officers sailing in the North Atlantic. In those latitudes, the sun would rise above the yardarms (the horizontal Spars mounted on the masts, where squaresails were hung) around 11 a.m. Since this coincided with the forenoon "stand easy", officers would take a break to below for their first lot of spirits for the day. The expression washed ashore, where the sun appears over the yardarm a bit later in the day - around 5 p.m., or the end of the workday, whichever comes first.
