NAUTICAL PHRASES YOU DON’T HEAR ANYMORE
Oktoberfest Soft Pretzels Inspired by Tasty.co
We love sharing Captain Lance’s stories about sailing, but if you really want to travel back in time, try out one of these old sailor sayings! Try These Out at Your Next Holiday Party! ‘THE SUN IS OVER THE YARDARM.’ This phrase essentially means, “It’s time for the first drink of the day.” The yardarm refers to the spar on a mast from which sails are set. It’s one of the highest points of a traditional square-rigged sailboat. Once the sun rose past the yardarm, the captain often allowed his sailors and officers to have their first drink of the day. Because voyages would last over months, they wouldn’t drink water, but watered-down beer or ale. ‘BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA …’ When you’re “between a rock and a hard place,” you’re probably faced with two difficult and unappealing choices. But when you’re “between the devil and the deep blue sea,” you’re faced with two dangerous choices. The “devil” is also the seam between the deck planking and the top plank of the ship’s side. Since it was required to be watertight, it needed filling regularly, which required sailors to stand on the very edge of the deck or even suspended over the side. That’s certainly a dangerous place to be! ‘CUT AND RUN!’ Some people say that this getaway phrase came from the ships making a hasty departure by cutting the anchor rope and running with the wind. ‘LET’S GET UNDERWAY.’ You’ve got us — this one is still used today, but you probably didn’t know it was a nautical saying first! The “under” is likely to have meant “on the,” and the “way” is the forward progress of the ship, so it actually means “on their way.” ‘I’M ON MY BEAM ENDS.’ “On your beam ends” means “toughen up” or “in a bad situation.” The beams were the horizontal timbers of a boat, so if the ends of those beams were touching the water, you were in imminent danger of capsizing. The meaning depends on who’s saying the phrase to whom. If someone tells you to get on your beam ends, it means to harden yourself. If you say you’re on your beam ends, it means you’re in a bad situation.
Ingredients • 1 1/2 cups warm water • 1 tbsp salt • 1 tbsp sugar • 1 packet active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups flour • 3 tbsp oil, divided • 2/3 cup baking soda
• 2 eggs, beaten • Coarse salt, for sprinkling
Directions
1. In a bowl, combine water, salt, and sugar. Add yeast and let rest for 5 minutes. Add flour and 2 tbsp oil, then mix thoroughly into a dough. 2. Remove the dough from the bowl. Coat bowl with remaining oil, then return the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and set it aside in a warm place for 1 hour. 3. Preheat oven to 450 F. 4. Cut dough into 8 pieces. Roll them into thin ropes, then twist ropes into pretzel shapes. 5. In a large pot, boil water. Add baking soda, then boil each pretzel for 1 minute, flipping halfway through. 6. Transfer pretzels to a baking sheet. Brush them with egg and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10–15 minutes. Enjoy!
Quote of the Month
“Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.” C. S. Lewis
We hope you loved learning about these like we did! But if someone gets tired of your sailor lingo at Thanksgiving, we hope we didn’t put you between the devil and the deep blue sea.
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