SHIPTALK: A GLOSSARY OF SHIPPING AND MARITIME TERMS

Galley: The ship's kitchen, where food is prepared. The origin is uncertain but may have arisen with the ships cook and helpers thinking of themselves as "galley slaves." (A galley was originally a fighting ship propelled by oars, from the Latin galea.)

Gangway: One of several words for a shipboard passageway. Also, an opening for gaining access to or from a ship, or a shouted command meaning that someone is coming through. Gang is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "path," while way is from weg, "Way."

Grog: Admiral  Vernon (1684-1757) wore his cloak of grogram (silk and wool mix) so habitually that his men nicknamed him “Old Grog”.  When the Admiral suggested to the British government that they could save money by diluting the Navy rum ration with 50% water, and the law passed to that effect, sailors took to calling the rum ration “Grog”.

Gunwale: Also gunnel. The upper edge of the side of a vessel;  a low bulwark. A wale was any of the strakes on the side of a vessel, from walen, an Old English word meaning "ridge." A "gunwale" was that part of the bulwark structure along the main deck where the guns were carried.

Head: (1) The uppermost or forward-most part of a ship (or of some specific part of a ship, such as the masthead, beakhead, stemhead, or whatever. (2) The bathroom. In the age of sail, the crew was quartered forward in the forecastle, and their latrine was located on the beak head, over hanging the water (for obvious reasons).

Ladder: On shipboard, all stairs are called "ladders," except for literal staircases aboard passenger liners. Most "stairs" on a ship are narrow and nearly vertical, hence the name. From the Anglo-Saxon hiaeder, meaning ladder.

Landmen: Unskilled seamen. Did all of the heavy work onboard ship. Made up the majority of ship's company. Also known as 'Waisters', those who worked in the waist area of the ship. They never worked aloft, like the able bodied seamen.

List: Both a noun and a verb referring to a ships Upping to one side or the other due to poor trim, shifting cargo, or sinking. The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon lystan, meaning "to lean".