Seafaring

Idioms
Students
:

Marinescu Stefan
Remenyi Claudiu
Meregiu
Georgiana

Seafarin
g

The termseafaring basically reffers to the activity of travelling on

the sea especially while working on a ship/the carrer of a sailor,his
call.It is believed that seafaring - defined as deliberate,place-toplace, open-ocean voyaging, appeared no earlier than 1015,000
years ago.
Oxford
dictionar
y

regularly
travelling
by sea

working
or
Macmilla
n
travelling
dictionar
y
on the
sea
working
Collins
dictionar
as a
y
sailor

The term idiom means:

a group of words established by usage as having a meaning
not deducible from those of the individual words.(eg:see the
light)
a form of expression natural to a language, person, or group
of people
phrases that cannot be taken literally
Origins:
Late 16th century,from french idiome
or from Greek idioma(private property)

Tell it to the marines

Meaning: a scornful response to a tall and unbelieved story.
E.g:You say you lost your money because you got robbed?
Tell it to the marines!
Romanian equivalent:sa i-o spui lui mutu
Origins:
This phrase illustrates the fact that marines were
naive enough to believe ridiculous tales,but that sailors
werent.

To sail close to the wind

Meaning:to do something that is dangerous
or only just legal/acceptable, to take risks.
E.g:I thought she was sailing a a bit too
close to the wind,when she accepted to run a
shady business,but it turns out that I was
wrong.
Romanian equivalent:a o cauta cu lumanarea

To push the boat out

Meaning:to spend a lot of money or more money than
you usually do, especially when you are celebrating.
E.g:They really pushed the boat out for their wedding
Romanian equivalent:a te intrece cu masura

To be in Davy Joness locker

Meaning:the bottom of the ocean, especially when regarded as
the grave of all those who perish at sea.
E.g:Their ship ended up in Davy Joness locker after a
mysterious accident
Romanian equivalent:a se duce la fund

Origin:Davy Jones is the evil spirit of the sea. There

are various
attempts to explain the name by associating it with
Biblicalof a similar name:
someone

seaman

Davy Jones

Pub owner

Shortsight
ed sailor

When ones ship comes in

eaning: when one becomes rich and successful

g:When my ship will come in,it will probably be too late
manian equivalent:a-i surade norocul

rowning man clutching at a straw

Meaning:when you are desperate, you will
look for
anything that
might get you out of that situation.
E.g:He thinks that the robbery will cover all
of his
debts.A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
Romanian equivalent:a atarna de un fir/a se

ween the Devil and the deep blue

Meaning:in difficulty, faced with two dangerous
alternatives.
E.g:If he decides to quit his job,he will be
between the devil and the blue sea,because he
hasnt paid the rent for the last two months
Romanian equivalent:intre ciocan si nicovala
Origin:pointing back to Homer's Odyssey,it
refers to Ulysses being caught between Scylla (a
six-headed monster) and Charybdis (a whirlpool).

To know the ropes

Meaning: knowledge of how to do
something,having certain required skills
E.g:I know the ropes,so becoming the director
of this company shouldnt be hard.
Romanian equivalent:a sti mersul treburilor
Origin:it was such an important skill on sailing vessels that an honorable
discharge of service was marked, at one time, with the term 'knows the
ropes'.

To be at a low ebb

eaning:below the usual condition or standard

g:The death of his wife came at a time when his carrer
as at a low ebb.
omanian equivalent:a fi in declin(a fi sub nivelul marii)

To rock the boat

oMeaning: to cause trouble where none is welcome;
to disturb a situation that is otherwise stable and satisfactory.
oE.g:We certainly dont want anyone rocking the boat before
we get our money from the owner
oRomanian equivalent:a pune bete in roate

Long shot
Meaning: an attempt that offers much but in which there is little
chance for success.
E.g:I will try to get some funds ,building a company from scratch
is a long shot.
Romanian equivalent:a incerca marea cu degetul

Because ships' guns in early days were

very inaccurate except at close
quarters, it was an extremely lucky
shot that would find its target from any

To feel blue

Meaning:to feel unwell, mainly associated

with depression or unhappiness.
E.g:This horrible weather makes me feel
blue.
Romanian equivalent:a fi la pamant

Origin:
If you are sad,and describe yourself asfeeling
blue

To walk the plank

Meaning:to suffer punishment at the hand of someone
E.g:The coach thought he could make 2 players walk the plank,but
he was wrong
Romanian equivalent:a fi aruncat in groapa cu lei
Origin:It was basically a form of
execution in which victims were forced
to walk, often blindfold and with hands
tied, off a plank of wood and into the
sea.

To be at sea
Meaning:to be completely confused
E.g:He hasnt been to any of the training
sessions. Therefore,hes all at sea with the
new equipment
Romanian equivalent:a fi pe dinafara/a fi
paralel

Loose cannon
Meaning: An unpredictable person or thing,
liable to cause damage if not kept in check by
others.
E.g:|Since his father left him,hes been a
loose cannon
everywhere he goes
Romanian equivalent:a fi cu capsa pusa
Origins:a loose cannon was just what it sounds
like, that is, a cannon that had become free of
its restraints and was rolling dangerously
about the deck.
Meaning:smooth and easy progress
E.g:After we graduated,it was plain sailing to
get a job
Romanian equivalent:a merge ca pe roate

Plain Sailing

Origins:'Plane sailing' is a simplified form of

navigation, in which the surface of the sea is

Above board
Meaning: without concealment and
deception
E.g:Their business was open and
above board
Romanian equivalent:cu cartile pe fata
Origin: a captain with nothing to hide
would keep his crew "above board.

Black Book

Meaning:a book containing the names of

people to be punished
E.g:It seems that Mary broke my TV
yesterday. Shes on my black book,then.
Romanian equivalent:lista neagra
Origin:a collection of maritime laws and
conduct.
The punishments for offenses was
harsh, to say the least.

Cut and run

Meaning:to avoid a difficult situation by leaving
suddenly
E.g:There is a time to fight and there is a time to
cut and run
Romanian equivalent:a da bir cu fugitii
Origins: It has been suggested that it has a nautical
derivation and that it refers to ships making a hasty
departure by cutting off the anchor rope and
running before the wind

Miss the boat

eaning: to be too late to get something that you want

g:Those who wanted to buy tickets for the show will
cover that they missed the boat,because there arent
more left
manian equivalent:a ramane cu ochii in soare

Conclusi
ons
Although at first glance,idioms don't always
make sense in general conversation, they are
widely used and understood throughout history.
Seafaring has one of the oldest origins,and
it basically represented a way of life for people
back then.
Idioms with seafaring origins are used to
express all kind of situations,but mostly they
refer to certain human behaviours,tactics and
some well-known myths.
Many of the presented idioms are still being
used in the present day,although most people

Webliography
http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cetag/1etimber.htm
http://abceda.com/seaidiom1.htm
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com
http://www.phrases.org.uk
http://thesaurus.com
http://en.wiktionary.org
http://www.anthro.utah.edu