Posted by Peter H on November 11, 2004 at 21:18:40 from 213.122.192.126 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: One is scandalised, to say the least! (was Re: 'Bent on') posted by Jonathan Labaree on November 11, 2004 at 20:01:00:
No, Jonathan is not being 'overly polite' - I didn't realise what 'scandalise' meant, and I welcome being told. It is, in fact, in the OED: '(naut) reduce area of a sail', so one can't grumble about jargon. The only question is - is it a 'nautical expression'?
On another thread Andy B has just invited a coy Tarboardist to come out and be shot down in flames. I will be the mad idiot who goes first and shows him how. Sailing, like all other pastimes, has its do's and don't's, but more than other activities it seems hard on learners. I adduce as evidence John's sheer terror of being thought a 'duffer'. All through AR's books it is stressed how, when you come alongside, you MUST NOT BUMP. If you do - horror! shame! Even the Ds had to desperately get behind an island before they made a mess of things. What dreadful fate awaits those who make mistakes? What nameless horror?
(This is why being a 'sailing type' is not just a question of hitching down to the Royal Harwich. Being there is one thing, being part of it is another.)