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Random trivia...can we make this work

110K views 1K replies 73 participants last post by  poopdeckpappy 
#1 ·
I was reading my spinnaker book yesterday evening, and came across an interesting fact. Anyone care to hazard a guess:

What is the origin of the name "nylon"?
Answer the question and post a new question :)
 
#2 ·
Great idea! No Wikipedia, right?

Got me - I thought nylon was a made-up word by an ad agency, like Xerox, made to sound good.
 
#3 ·
Didn't know so used Snopes, (didn't set any ground rules merlin) - the name "nylon" (polyhexamethyleneadipamide . . . that's a mouthful), came about from "the conflatation of New York (NY) and London (Lon)".

Next trivia question.

What are (were) "thole pins"?
 
#5 ·
Well let's set this rule :)

First 5 minutes NO researching online of any kind (by the time of the post)
after that it's a free for all, it's all good if we're learning something :)

Just fill out forms 2938-a, 329j-b, and 2938-c then mail them in triplicate to your local representative if you think that's too complicated :)

Fair enough?
 
#7 ·
Nylon - Sounds like a person from New Zealand saying "no" to Lon Chaney, Jr.

Crow's Nest? Hmm, should have read the whole issue. Don't tell Bob... :rolleyes:

I have a production company called Crow's Nest Productions. My guess is that crows (or other birds) used to make nests at the point where the top mast joins the main mast. Good vantage point. When sailors made their little buckets or platforms up there to gain a better view, they must have referred to them as "crow's nests".
 
#8 ·
Mf,
I'm telling Bob B. you film his shows but don't even read his cruising rag. Shame on you.

Actually, as close as your guess was, I can expand upon it. The navigators aboard early sailing ships would actually bring crows along on sea journeys. Whenever the navigator lost his bearings and/or sight of land, he would release one of his crows from it's cage situated up high on the mast - usually by the platform he used to navigate from.

Being land dwellers, crows always flew towards land - enabling the dim-witted navigator to take a bearing to steer the ship by.
 
#10 ·
My understanding is it's a corruption of 'steering board', 'cause that's the side of the boat that the rudder was attached.

Close?
 
#12 ·
Don't know the validity of this, but....

I had read somewhere that there were two research groups trying to come up with a cheaper easier to obtain fiber to replace silk. One group was in New York and the other was in London. Therefore the name NYLON. Anyway, not sure how true that is.

But, here is another questions. Why is Starboard called Starboard and Port called Port?
 
#14 ·
What is the origin of the term 'Grog'?

The term used to describe rum.
Where does it come from?
 
#18 ·
The term used to describe rum.
Where does it come from?
Grog is essentially a diluted rum mixture, with two parts water and one part Pusser's Rum. The word "grog" was derived from the nickname for Admiral Vernon who was nicknamed "Old Grogram" (grog, rum - get it?!) based on the waterproof grogram cloak he wore on ships. He first ordered this rum dilution process that yielded grog to be carried out in 1740. This command was called "Vernon's Orders" and it also encouraged the addition of sugar and limes to the grog mixture - which is the present day Pusser's Rum recipe for grog.
 
#15 ·
I believe it was the nickname of an English Admiral. I'm not sure why.
 
#16 ·
Assuming I am correct, my trivia question is:

Where does the name of the sextant come from?
 
#19 · (Edited)
You are correct.



Sorry, I hate when work interferes with socializing on-line.

'Old Grog' was the nickname of Admiral Edward Vernon (from a rough cloak that he wore). The admiral didn't make himself very popular when he recommended watering down the rum rations of the sailors. The watered down rum was named 'grog' in his 'honour'.

Edit: I see Jody gave a complete definition above - slow fingers!
 
#20 ·
The sextant is called a sextant since it is basically a sixth of a circle... 60 degrees in design... measuring twice that. Its predecessor was the Octant, which was an eighth of a circle in design.


Question: What relation to mariners does the expression "let the cat out of the bag" have??
 
#21 ·
It is the expression for the Gunners mate to get the cat-o-nine-tails out and prepare to mete out punishment.

Good work on the sextant!

Question: If a sextant is a sixth of a circle, why is it 120 degrees on the arc?
 
#22 ·
Because the mechanics of the mirror setup mean that the angle the sextant moves is only half that of the measurement. For a one degree change in measurement, the sextant actually only moves 1/2 a degree. This is probably due to the fact that it uses TWO mirrors, resulting in the halving of the movement.
 
#23 ·
Correct! It also allows you to take sights "over the back" - beyond 90 degrees.

Your question?
 
#24 ·
Hmm...

Here's a simple one... "Why were British sailors called 'Limeys'?"
 
#26 ·
Correct. :)

Where does the phrase: "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" come from, and how does it relate to mariners??
 
#28 ·
Correct, but it had to be fairly cold for that to happen though. :)
 
#30 ·
I was letting folks have the opportunity to get that one.

Rogue/thieves knot. It looks just like a reef knot, but it can't be tied it has to be threaded through. It is used to secure a bag or whatever, so you can see if someone has been into it. The thief thinks it is a reef knot and when he reties it he ties a reef knot indicating to the owner that someone was in his bag.
 
#31 ·
Plumper-

You're up for a question now... them's the rules. :)
 
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