Lots of naval terms aren't pronounced the way you would think, e.g. boatswain and gunwale pronounced differently than they are spelled.
Boatswain sounds like bo-sun
Gunwale sounds like gun-ull
this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2025
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Don’t forget coxswain pronounced cocksun
My favorite is “lee” and “leeward.” Both have to do with something being down wind. The former is pronounced as it’s spelled, but the first syllable of the latter is pronounced “loo” or “lew.”
Of course, there’s also the Leeward Islands which are often (mis)pronounced as they’re spelled because most people don’t sail anymore!
What happens when the fo'c'sle falls off?
Well, it’s not supposed to do that, no. But I want to reassure the public that fo’c’sles are safe.
TIL that forward part of a ship is called forecastle
For people reading the title and trying to pronounce this like a 3 syllable French word, Wikipedia pronunciation says it like "Fok-sull", like "folk" minus the L and "sull" like sullied.
A cockney accent is necessary for boat terminology
You would be amazed how many short forms are used in sailing, sometimes crippled to letter salad with apostrophes. Fo'c'sle is not alone, by far.
Boatswain -> Bosun -> Bo's'n
But Bo's'n uses one more character than Bosun?
Sailing is mental.
You think the sailors were passing notes mate?
No :-)
But it still doesn't make sense for Boatswain to become Bosun to become Bo's'n.
Bos'n maybe, but the apostrophe between o and s isn't doing anything.
Now that I look at it it could've been used as syllable indicator, but I'd guess that Bosun and Bo's'n were developed separately in regions with different languages where each spelling was easier for local populations
Maybe yeah. There's probably a good reason somewhere, I just don't get it. All good 👍
It's Worcestershire all over again...
"Just call me Wöstösö" -Worcestershire probably
I knew that and it took all day for it to percolate that I'd learned it from Kingdom of Loathing.
Now THAT should be in the Toot Oriole
That's ridiculous. It's not even funny.
Folks-sull
Fok this sull!
Fox 'ole?