One particularly rich source for the words we use is the world of the seafarer. No surprise, then, that so many maritime expressions have drifted ashore in the world of personal finance! Here, to salt your lips, are just a few.
‘Copper-bottomed investment’: in 1761, The Royal Navy began plating the hulls of its vessels with copper to protect the wood from the teredo worm, a form of underwater woodworm. This process, while expensive, was cheaper in the long term, as it so extended the life of the ship - in other words, it was ‘a good investment’. More to the point, it made it much less likely that the hull would need repair. The term was then applied to a financial option that was seen as sound and wise.
‘Hand over fist’: to climb ‘hand over fist’ refers to the technique by which sailors would climb aloft into the rigging, and a rapid agility in this department was a source of pride to the individual sailor. The term became synonymous first with career advancement, and then with rapid (financial) advancement, and was often used in the context of ‘raking in money hand over fist’.
‘Hard up’: originally described being in a tight spot with no means of setting yourself free, in the phrase ‘hard up in a clinch and no knife to cut the seizing’. The order ‘hard up the helm’ was a command given in stormy seas to steer the ship’s bow away from the wind, and the allusion to (financially) stormy seas followed from there.
‘Making both ends meet’: stems from the once-common practice of splicing two ends of rope together to save on materials costs on board, and is a general term for cutting costs.
‘Above board’: this term, denoting dealings that are honest and reputable, may stem from its maritime opposite ‘below board’. Pirate captains pursuing merchant vessels would play down the level of threat they posed by hiding their crews below decks (below board).
‘Slush Fund’: at the end of a voyage, pork fat or ‘slush’ from the now-empty salt pork barrels was sold off to makers of candles and soaps. Profits from this were put in the ‘slush fund’, which was a fund to provide small luxuries and perks to the crew.
‘Windfall’: in medieval days landowners were prohibited from felling trees on tracts of their land designated as timber reserves for the shipbuilding industry. However, if a tree fell in the wind – a ‘windfall’ – they were free to use it for their own purposes. Hence the phrase ‘the windfall rich’ as used today in banking to describe the beneficiaries of unexpected inheritances or lottery wins!
‘Born with a silver spoon in his mouth’: In the 19th century, young men of high family or with other connections were able to join the Royal Navy without taking the usual entrance examinations. Often their promotion and advancement were guaranteed. These were said to have ’entered through the stern cabin windows’, while the ordinary sailor had entered through the ‘hawsehole’, the hole in the bow for the rope on the ship’s anchor. The ‘silver spoon’ refers to the fact that silver cutlery was used for meal service in the officer’s quarters. The ordinary sailor, in contrast, was ‘born with a wooden ladle in his mouth’.
