The phraseology "seven feet under the keel": its meaning and origin

People of different professions have their own special rituals, beliefs and even unusual wishes and farewells. Some of these statements eventually turn into steady turns. For example, "seven feet under the keel." What this means, we will consider in this article. We also learn who invented this expression and what it is used for.

"Seven feet under the keel": the meaning of phraseology

In the explanatory dictionary of Sergei Ivanovich Ozhegov one can find the definition of the expression under consideration. It noted that the phraseology "seven feet under the keel" means the wish for a safe voyage in the fleet.

It turns out that the expression refers to sailors. It is parting words, a kind of blessing for swimming without unpleasant surprises.

How did it come about?

The origin of expression

Let's look at the composition of the phraseology "seven feet under the keel." Let us turn again to Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. It says that a foot is an English and an old Russian measure of length, which is 30.48 cm. A keel is a longitudinal bar that runs along the entire length of the ship in the middle of its bottom.

Previously, many sails were unpretentious. They had no more than two matches. Because of this in the headwind, such vessels were forced to anchor and wait for the wind to be a by-catch. This state of affairs made it necessary to keep ships near the coast. The open sea for these fragile ships was dangerous. But due to the fact that the ships were near the coast, they could run aground. Dangerous were to them and the coastal rocks, about which they could break. In general, the danger was all around.

In those days the sludge of the ships was no more than 2 meters. The boatmasters operating the ship tried to keep under the keel no less than 7 feet. This was enough to not hit the ground even under the heaviest load. And 7 feet is and is about 2 meters.

So there was an expression-wish for the Navy. After all, these 7 feet played an important role in the life of the entire crew.

Synonyms

In addition to the "seven feet under the keel," among the wishes of sailors going on a long voyage, there is the phrase "fair wind". This expression can be called a synonym for the phraseology under consideration. It also represents a wish for a safe voyage.

Also synonyms include such words and their combinations as "good luck", "easy road", "happy journey", etc.

Use

Wishing "seven feet under the keel" to a sailor means to wish to swim to the appointed goal without danger. And there are a lot of them on the sea: storms, rocking, shoals, reefs and so on.

This expression is actively used as parting words for sailors. If initially the wish was that the ship did not land not stranded, then in due course it meant a safe voyage as a whole.

This phraseology is also found in fiction. In the works, telling about life on the sea and seamen.

The expression is often used in the media. Bloggers-seamen also apply this steady turnover in articles on a favorite topic.

There is this phraseology in various titles, names of games, exhibitions, etc. It is often used when it comes to life on a ship, sailings, the navy and even pirates.

However, such a wish is sometimes used for the expressiveness of speech when they simply wish a happy journey. Even if this road is not connected with the sea, swimming on the ship. This game of words is typical for journalists. They are so fond of attracting the attention of readers, viewers and listeners with the expressive means of language, in particular phraseological ones.

Now, knowing the meaning of the expression, we can safely wish the sailors 7 feet under the keel and no less!