5 ms·

How many of these have common non-nautical uses? I don't think I ever use any of these terms, or hear anyone else use them, in common speech.

xfz 3y ago
Generally agree although there's a case for "taking a different tack".
dagw 3y ago
I hear people use "at the helm" and "change tack" to mean being in charge of something and changing direction or approach, respectively. People also "hitch themselves" to things, although I'm not sure that comes directly from the nautical usage.
- almostarockstar 3y ago
  A "hitch" knot is typically used to fasten around a fixed object. So you might use a hitch to tie the boat to the shore, or tie a line around a wooden (or these days aluminium or carbon fibre) boom. I'm not sure if it's purely nautical.
jrockway 3y ago
"at the helm" seems like common usage to me. Maybe not in the top 100 idioms, but everyone knows what you mean. "tiller" is just the thing that controls the position of the rudder, which I think most people know about. (That said, nobody in aviation calls their rudder pedals the "tiller", so it might be a strictly nautical term.)
- willyt 3y ago
  I think they sometimes call the thing that steers the nose wheel the tiller.
  - jrockway 3y ago
    Yup, you're exactly right. I totally forgot about that. Thinking about it more, the rudder and tiller might be different things on ships too; I think a rudder you turn right to go right, and a tiller you turn left to go right, because of where the pivot point is? It's a good thing I'm not at the helm ;)
    - willyt 3y ago
      On a boat the rudder is technically the blade that cuts through the water and the tiller is the thing that gives you enough leverage to apply force to control the direction of the rudder as it passes through the water; sometimes quite a lot of force is needed! Only quite small boats have tillers that you can directly manipulate. Larger boats typically have a wheel which controls hydraulic rams which manipulate the ‘tiller’
- phone8675309 3y ago
  Tiller was popular at least in the 1960s - see the Cat Stevens/Yousef album "Tea for the Tillerman"

xfz 3y ago

Generally agree although there's a case for "taking a different tack".

dagw 3y ago

I hear people use "at the helm" and "change tack" to mean being in charge of something and changing direction or approach, respectively. People also "hitch themselves" to things, although I'm not sure that comes directly from the nautical usage.

almostarockstar 3y ago
A "hitch" knot is typically used to fasten around a fixed object. So you might use a hitch to tie the boat to the shore, or tie a line around a wooden (or these days aluminium or carbon fibre) boom. I'm not sure if it's purely nautical.

jrockway 3y ago

"at the helm" seems like common usage to me. Maybe not in the top 100 idioms, but everyone knows what you mean. "tiller" is just the thing that controls the position of the rudder, which I think most people know about. (That said, nobody in aviation calls their rudder pedals the "tiller", so it might be a strictly nautical term.)

willyt 3y ago
I think they sometimes call the thing that steers the nose wheel the tiller.
- jrockway 3y ago
  Yup, you're exactly right. I totally forgot about that. Thinking about it more, the rudder and tiller might be different things on ships too; I think a rudder you turn right to go right, and a tiller you turn left to go right, because of where the pivot point is? It's a good thing I'm not at the helm ;)
  - willyt 3y ago
    On a boat the rudder is technically the blade that cuts through the water and the tiller is the thing that gives you enough leverage to apply force to control the direction of the rudder as it passes through the water; sometimes quite a lot of force is needed! Only quite small boats have tillers that you can directly manipulate. Larger boats typically have a wheel which controls hydraulic rams which manipulate the ‘tiller’
phone8675309 3y ago
Tiller was popular at least in the 1960s - see the Cat Stevens/Yousef album "Tea for the Tillerman"