2006-09-09 17:26:57 · 11 answers · asked by riderbluegreen 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It means all your sail ropes, (sheets, in nautical terms) are out of control. Most sailboats have three sails; Main, Jib and Spinnaker, each sail has one or more "sheets".
A drunk person has lost all control, hence,"three sheets to the wind"
2006-09-09 17:30:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The word sheet in our expression is the nautical sheet, meaning 'a rope, chain, etc. used to secure or adjust the sail of a ship'. This word is also ultimately from Old English, a shortening of sheet-line, that is, 'sail-rope', with the sheet the same as our above sheet in the sense 'a sail'.
The original form of the expression was three sheets in the wind (not "to"), which literally means 'with the sail completely unsecured', and thus flapping about, and with the boat itself thus unsteady. (Sails can be secured with varying numbers of sheets, but the square-rigged boats used at the time when the expression became current usually had three sheets.) There are many other nautical expressions for drunkenness, such as "with decks awash," "half seas over," and "over the bay," but few of them have spread so thoroughly to the mainstream.
2006-09-09 17:35:40 · answer #2 · answered by justnotright 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This old saying indicating how a person walk after having too much to drink originated in New England. Wind mills used for grinding grain had four blades. Big sheets (similar to sails) where stretched across the blades (or woven between the slates). The wind mill would wobble when only three blades were loaded, hence the term "three sheets to the wind"
After consuming a bottle of rum, Bob was walking as if he had three sheets to the wind.
2006-09-09 17:34:58 · answer #3 · answered by moekittykitty 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
"Three sheets to the wind" is a sailing expression. A "sheet" is the line (rope) that controls the position of a sail. It is normally wound around a winch and under control. If it is flying in the wind, the sail is flapping and out of control. The expression is usually applied to drunks who may be weaving around as if they were "three sheets to the wind."
2006-09-09 17:30:08 · answer #4 · answered by Califrich 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The earliest printed citation is Pierce Egan, Real life in London 1821:
"Old Wax and Bristles is about three sheets in the wind."
The earliest that specifically makes the nautical and drunken associations is Richard Dana Jr's
'Two years before the mast', 1840:
"He seldom went up to the town without coming down 'three sheets in the wind'."
I think I win LOL just kidding
2006-09-09 19:18:16 · answer #5 · answered by derry r 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's to do with Sailing. Their were 3 sails aboard most ships before the Steam Ships came about. So it basically meant that the wind was with the ship(Going the direction the ship was going, so all the sails were full)
2006-09-09 17:30:21 · answer #6 · answered by xidaranthed 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's about sailing ships and when they were "three sheets to the wind" they were moving onward.
2006-09-09 17:53:14 · answer #7 · answered by Alison D 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I assume it means like three sheets on a clothes line, flapping in the wind....flopping around drunkedly.
2006-09-09 17:29:27 · answer #8 · answered by Stormy 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's a sailing term. . .not sure of the specifics. . .
2006-09-09 17:29:53 · answer #9 · answered by Suzeebee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was always told, it was about how drunk a person is.
2006-09-09 17:29:14 · answer #10 · answered by avery 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋