Talk:three sheets to the wind

Windmill
This expression is used to describe someone who is drunk to the point of being unable to stand up straight. The ‘sheets’ here refer to the sails of a windmill rather than bed linen. Windmill operators used to add or remove the number of sails according to the strength of the wind.

One basic rule that they had to follow was to always keep an even number of sails – either two or four – opposite each other in order to keep the windmill balanced and steady. If they ever had three sheets, the windmill became unstable and extremely wobbly, swaying from side to side very much like someone who has enjoyed a little too much alcohol!


 * Source? I've always seen it explained as nautical talk, a ship's sails. Equinox ◑ 12:06, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

a sheet in the wind's eye
This appears to be another form. Equinox ◑ 12:06, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Etymology
Could the etymology please be simplified? Maikel (talk) 05:30, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

I love it as it is. I am currently TWO sheets to the wind, and it reads as absolutely perfect. CMAC (talk) 6:43, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

No good reason to shorten - it's amusingly written as-is and gives a thorough, succinct description.

I agree a good and detailed description, no need to change a thing

I agree that the etymology is long, but not that it is absurdly or unnecessarily long. To someone who doesn’t know anything about sailing, the full explanation provides the reason for the phrase specifying *three* sheets in particular, as well as the effect on the sailing vessel that creates the visual impression of a drunk stumbling and pitching about as they move. It could be rewritten have a brief initial sentence explain that it comes from nautical history, the “sheets” being sails, and that having “three sheets to the wind” would make a vessel move about violently and unpredictably like a drunk person. Then a longer separate paragraph detailing why this is so.

You might wonder why I didn’t just edit the entry to accomplish this change instead of spending an equal amount of time writing this talk message. Because I like it the way it is. Etymology of colorful expressions, as opposed to individual words, often involves rather convoluted historical back stories, and those fascinate me. I suspect many people who search etymologies of metaphorical expressions are similarly fascinated. Etymologies of individual words are usually much simpler and can be stated in very few words.

I agree. This is an excellent explanation. It is clear to any sailor. A non-sailor cannot understand this without the explanation which is given, and it is indeed concise for the amount of information which needs to be conveyed.

One more vote for keeping the excellent etymology section, which was just what I was looking for when I came here. Timothy N. Hill (talk) 20:05, 17 September 2021 (UTC)