Another little gem which has crossed our desks in recent weeks is a revised version of John Rousmaniere’s Illustrated Dictionary of Boating Terms: 2000 Essential Terms for Sailors and Powerboaters.
It’s not our plan to review nautical dictionaries, but this one is a good reference for those onboard arguments that can pop up about the proper spelling or meaning of a term. In our case, as new nautical publishers, the book has assumed a revered position right next to Webster’s, Roget’s Thesaurus, and the Associated Press Stylebook.
It has solved the dilemma of whether to say wing and wing, wing ‘n wing, wing in wing. John chooses wing-and-wing in other words, none of the above. And it has brought other nautical mispronunciations, which could lead to misspellings, to our attention: a mooring pendant (pronounced pennant), for example, is mentioned in Lin Pardey’s article in this issue. A sea chantey is pronounced “shanty.”
A sailor for more than 40 years, John Rousmaniere is the author of The Annapolis Book of Seamanship and was the writer-host of a video series based on this book.
