Where did the term "three sheets to the wind" come from?

Question

Just wondering where the term originated from?? Who started it? Was it sailors?? Anyone know? Let me know...Thanks

Answer 1

Well, I'm not sure but I think that the "sheets" were originally just the ropes' ends. If three sheets (or their corresponding ropes) are loose and blowing about in the wind then the boat will lurch about like a drunken sailor. So it's associated with being very drunk.
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'." This is yet another definition of the phrase:
Drunk, inebriated, as in "After six beers he's three sheets to the wind". This expression is generally thought to refer to the sheet--that is, a rope or chain--that holds one or both lower corners of a sail. If the sheet is allowed to go slack in the wind, the sail flaps about and the boat is tossed about much as a drunk staggers. Having three sheets loose would presumably make the situation all the worse. Another explanation holds that with two or four sheets to the wind the boat is balanced, whereas with three it is not.

Answer 2

It is an idiom-

three sheets to the wind-
Also, three sheets in the wind. Drunk, inebriated, as in After six beers he's three sheets to the wind. This expression is generally thought to refer to the sheet--that is, a rope or chain--that holds one or both lower corners of a sail. If the sheet is allowed to go slack in the wind, the sail flaps about and the boat is tossed about much as a drunk staggers. Having three sheets loose would presumably make the situation all the worse. Another explanation holds that with two or four sheets to the wind the boat is balanced, whereas with three it is not. [Mid-1800s] -

Answer 3

It's a sailing phrase. Sometimes a sailing ship is taken aback (loses the wind) with a great flapping of sails. If they don't turn the ship so the wind catches the sails again, it staggers like a drunk. It might also refer to sails tearing loose from their masts, but that rarely happens to three at once. Losing the wind, though, can happen when the ship is under full sail and I can just see all the sheets flapping madly.

Watch the Horatio Hornblower series from A&E to get a better idea of sailing ship terminology. Great plots and beautiful ships.

Answer 4

As someone who also is fascinated by the origins of words and phrases, this one has been a favorite, but I don't have an authoritative source. I would imagine, though, that it refers to a ship's captain on one of the old tall masted sailing boats who with complete abandon orders the rigging of all sheet sails into a strong wind. This would likely be somewhat fool-hearty and dangerous. We all know the reputation for sailors to enjoy their grog. So the expression describes one who is quite inebriated.

Answer 5

It's when the sails of a ship come off, i.e., are no longer tied down to their mast. As a result, the ship is at the mercy of the waves and it's pretty much worthless rudder. When a ship is three sheets to the wind, it can't control itself. That's like when a person gets really drunk. It's from when ships sailed. That's where we get it.

Answer 6

The three sheets are the sails of a sailing ship.

Answer 7

I believe it refers to a sailing ship, and implies a sailor who is drunk and ou of it like a ship whose sails are not being managed properly.