Sailor's yarn

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Sailors on the Gorch Fock (1968) maybe spinning a sailor's yarn

Seemannsgarn ( english [to tell] yarn ) is in the German language one of Schiemannsgarn derived metaphor for stories of actual or alleged experiences in the maritime . Over time, the meaning of “spinning seaman's yarn” for dubious stories or exaggerations found its way into everyday language .

On sailing ships , sailors used Schiemann's yarn made from old ropes to wrap ropes and cables ( smarten & clover ). “Turning Schiemannsgarn” or “Spinnen Schiemannsgarn” was a subordinate, monotonous job that was done when the weather was fine, during which one naturally told oneself experiences, thoughts and stories up to legends , swings and dontjes . With the decline of sailing, the original meaning of "Schiemannsgarn spinnen" shifted more and more from work to storytelling, until finally "Seemannsgarn spinnen" replaced the old phrase and included generally impressive but dubious reports on the border between truth and Imagination understood.

Sea tales such as Klabautermann , sea ​​monsters , giant octopuses , water men and mermaids as well as dangerous magnetic mountains , ghost ships such as the Flying Dutchman or the disappearance of ships in the Bermuda Triangle are more to be distinguished from the Seemansgarn .

For a long time, reports of monster waves that appear out of nowhere and destroy ships were considered fictitious legends, as were those about giant octopuses and giant squids . While dangerous waves have now been proven to be real phenomena, embellishments and exaggerations about animals that drag ships to ruin are actually part of the “sailor's thread”.

See also

literature

  • Paul Gerhard Heims: Octopuses, monsters, seaman's yarn: legends and superstitions on the high seas. Festa Verlag 2006, ISBN 3865520553
  • Joachim Schult: Sailors Lexicon . 13th edition. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2008, ISBN 978-3-7688-1041-8 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Seemannsgarn  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations