Travel and navigation books

The Sailor’s Word Book

By Admiral WH Smyth

Distributed by Sterling Publishing

Paperback, 744 pages

What does Larboard mean? If a sailor is “sailing,” what is he doing? And what is a poop flashlight? Here are some of the more than 14,000 naval and quirky words and phrases compiled in this dictionary of naval and nautical terms, written by Admiral William Henry Smyth (1788-1865) and first published in 1867 shortly after his death. Smyth began working on the dictionary in 1858 at age 70, after spending most of his career with the British Navy surveying the Mediterranean. He was a member of the Royal Geographical Society and its president from 1849 to 1851. The author asks in the foreword to the book: “What is in a word? He answers: A meaning. He also asks: What is in a word? And he answers : A dictionary. There are historical and rare, obsolete and common words. “

The language of the sea, be it nautical, navigation, meteorology, naval architecture or shipbuilding, is written in this voluminous alphabetical list. This is ideal for the seasoned sailor or the armchair skipper. In the meaning of the words mentioned above, Larboard is an old name for the port side of the ship, which was changed because it sounded too close to starboard. Lask means “go big” or sail with a barracks wind. And the stern lantern is a light carried by the admirals to indicate the flag ship at night. For more details, visit http://www.anovabooks.com.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *