Do I need a ship's wheel (LOL, no).

[ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org]

Or is that "Anchors Aweigh"?

[jgrg@mstdn.science]

@ai6yr "Anchors aweigh" is what you cry when you raise them when setting sail.

[ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org]

@jgrg LOL so, it's not when you throw your anchor away into the water... good thing that's been clarified. Who came up with these terms. 🤪

[bruce@darkmoon.social]

@ai6yr @jgrg

When you raise the anchor, you are "weighing anchor". I mean, it's heavy.

[bruce@darkmoon.social]

@ai6yr @jgrg

And to answer your question, the British came up with these terms. Nobody can mangle the English language like an Englishman.

[ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org]

@bruce @jgrg

[hashbangperl@hachyderm.io]

@bruce @ai6yr @jgrg most naval and nautical terms will be from the Dutch who massively progressed merchant shipping in Northern Europe hundreds of years ago

[w6kme@mastodon.radio]

@ai6yr @bruce @jgrg I can't resist a challenge like this...Weigh comes from PIE "wegh" to move or lift". From that we get Peroto-Germanic wegen, Frisian wega, Old Norse vega, Old High German wegan, all with the same meaning.

"Weigh anchor" is a fossil of that original meaning. It morphed in modern German and English to mean "lifting something to ascertain its weight", and finally to measure the weight.

It's not that the English mangle words; these words are just so old that we forget.

[hashbangperl@hachyderm.io]

@bruce @ai6yr @jgrg such as anchor and the origin of "hold fast" much loved by mariners and tattoo artists .. https://flowently.com/language-tips/dutch-maritime-loanwords-in-english/

[bruce@darkmoon.social]

@W6KME @ai6yr @jgrg

How to learn new and interesting things: be wrong on the internet. I love it.

[user47@vmst.io]

@ai6yr counterpoint: Yes