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origin: sheets actually refer to the ropes that are used to secure a ship's sail. If the 3 ropes used were loose in the wind, the sail would flop around, causing the ship to wobble around, much like a drunk.
What's the origin of the phrase 'Three sheets to the wind'? Our colleagues at CANOE, the Committee to Ascribe a Nautical Origin to Everything, have been hard at work and, to their great pleasure, they can add this phrase to their list. ‘Three sheets to the wind’ is indeed a seafaring expression.
20 sty 2022 · Origin. The phrase "three sheets to the wind" is a nautical term originating from the 19th century. On large ships, the ropes hold the sail corners taut, so they catch the wind, propelling the vessel forward. These ships would typically have three sails. If the first sail lost is tautness, the boat would lose stability.
27 wrz 2024 · The phrase was originally "three sheets in the wind", but also appears in its early examples with the number references "two" and "one", and is thought to derive from the fact that when "sheets [of a sailing vessel] are loose and blowing about in the wind[,] then the sails will flap" such that the boat lurches about "like a drunken sailor ...
27 sie 2024 · What is the origin of the phrase ‘three sheets to the wind’? As you may imagine, the phrase ‘three sheets to the wind’ has nautical origins, since it’s a phrase derived from sailing ships… In the 1800s, tall ships had sails controlled by ropes known as sheets which would have been fixed to the lower corners of the sails to keep them in place.
To be three sheets in the wind means to be drunk or inebriated and is first cited in this sense from 1821. The origin is nautical from the days of sailing ships where sheets were the ropes that held sails in place, or sometimes the sails themselves.
“Three sheets to the wind” refers to someone who is extremely drunk or intoxicated. When someone has had too much alcohol, they may lose their balance and stumble around – just like a ship with three loose sails would sway uncontrollably in rough seas.
