Ship Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘car’ and now look at ‘ship’.

Ships that pass in the night is first seen in Longfellow’s poem Tales of a Wayside Inn published in 1863.

Running a tight ship is not seen in anything but a nautical sense until as recently as 1965.

Hoping for a change of fortunes when one’s ship comes in is first seen in print in 1851.

Shipshape is first seen in 1762, earlier the phrase appeared as shipshapen and is seen since 1640.

Ship of fools, a reference to a less than perfect governing body, originates in the title of a 1509 translation of Brant’s Narrenschiff of 1494.

Ship-building is first seen from 1717, ship-builder from 1700, ship-craft from the late 14th century. Of course ship-building began thousands of years ago, but the earliest English reference to such comes from the Old English shipwright, and from at least the 6th century.

Ship-load is first mentioned in 1630.

The first reference to the mothership is from 1890.

Shipwreck in the modern sense is seen from the middle of the 15th century, but earlier, and from the end of the 12th century, it referred to that cast up from a shipwreck – ie the contents and not the vessel itself.

Battle-ship is first described in 1794, while the colour battleship-grey is first described in 1916.

Flagship, that the vessel bearing the flag of the admiral or vice-admiral, is first seen in 1670.

‘Ship’ as used in ‘apprenticeship’ is first seen in 1590 – prior to that the term used was ‘apprenticehood’.

Ownership is first used in 1580. Ownership society – a reference to the concept of combining the values of personal responsibility and economic freedom – was coined under the presidency of George W Bush in 2013.

Trusteeship is first recorded in 1730.

Nobody was involved in a courtship before 1570.

The side of the ship was first described as shipboard in the late 13th century.

Scholarship is first seen in 1580.

Steamship is first seen in 1819.

Airship is first recorded in 1819.

Fellowship in its modern sense is first seen in the late 13th century, prior to that the term was used to mean ‘companionship’.

Township dates from the middle of the 12th century.

Salesmanship dates from 1853.

Editorship comes from 1769.

Guardianship is seen from the middle of the 16th century.

Judgeship dates from the 1670s.

Worship is an Old English word which began as ‘worthy-ship’.

Internship dates from 1899.

Warship is first seen in 1530.

Starship is first recorded in 1934.

And despite the length of time horses have been the sole method of transport, horsemanship is unrecorded before the 1560s.