Puzzle to Puzzle you

While visiting a small town in the United States. I lost my overcoat in a bus. When I reported the matter to the bus company I was asked the number of the bus. Though I did not remember the exact number, I did remember that the bus number had a certain peculiarity about it. The number plate showed the bus number was a perfect square and also if the plate was turned upside down, the number would still be a perfect square—of course it was not? I came to know from the bus company they had only five hundred buses numbered from 1 to 500. From this I was able to deduce the bus number. Can you tell what was the number? Answer
Showing posts with label Ships and Sailing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ships and Sailing. Show all posts

Why is a severe labour dispute called a “strike”?

Conditions on board commercial sailing ships were miserable. On long voyages, food and water went bad and hygienic conditions were lower than for animals in a stable. If they suspected that a ship was poorly prepared, it wasn’t uncommon for the crew to strike the main sail, making it impossible to go to sea until conditions improved. This gave us the word strike to describe any extreme action by labour against management.

Why do we say that something lost has “gone by the board”?

During the time of wooden ships, sailors often referred to their sailing vessel as “the Boards.” We still use their language when we board a ship or are on board as part of a crew. Outboard is outside the boat, while inboard is inside. When a sailing ship’s mast was broken by enemy cannon or in a storm and couldn’t be salvaged, the captain would order the ropes holding it to be cut, letting it drift away or “go by the board.”

If you’re short of cash why might you ask for a loan to “tide you over”?

If you ask for money to tide you over, you are using a nautical term to reassure the lender that repayment is inevitable. When a boat or ship wants to enter a river from the ocean at low tide, its way will be blocked by the accumulation of mud or sand that has been swept downstream and collected at the mouth of the river. When the predictable tide rises and the obstacle is “tided over” the boat, like a borrower, can continue its progress.

Why do we describe something approximate as “by and large”?

In early sailing jargon, by was “by the wind,” and when a helmsman was ordered to fill the sails he was told to steer “full and by.” This required great skill and was called steering small. A less experienced helmsman might have been told to steer large with the order “by and large,” which meant use the wind but don’t fill the sails. This is how “by and large” came to mean not quite true, but close enough.

Why do we say that someone who has overcome an obstacle with ease has passed with “flying colours”?

Since the eighteenth century, ships of the navy have used flags to communicate their status or well-being. The most prominent flag, of course, is that of the ship’s country, but there are dozens of other banners, which are called “colours.” The most elaborate use of this buntingis after a victory at sea, when a triumphant ship returns to its home port with a proud and full display of flying colours.

Why does “chewing the fat” mean gossip or casual conversation?

During the twentieth century, “chewing the fat” came to mean passing time with informal small talk. The phrase originated with the grumbling of nineteenth-century British sailors whose lean diet was often nothing more than the fat from barrels of salt pork. Their whining while chewing the tough meat would expand to include complaints about every other hardship at sea and became known as “chewing the fat.”

How did “spick and span” come to mean very clean?

Today, Spick and Span is a trade name for a well-known cleanser, but the expression began in the fourteenth century as the nautical term “spick and span new,” to describe a freshly built or refurbished ship. A spick was a spike, while span was a Viking reference to new wood, but also means any distance between two extremities (such as the bow and stern of a ship). The wooden ship was so clean that even the spikes looked new.

What’s the origin of the expression “son of a gun”?

Early in the eighteenth century, wives and girlfriends (as well as the occasional prostitute) were allowed to go to sea with the sailors during long voyages. When one of them became pregnant and was about to give birth at sea, a canvas curtain was placed near the midship gun where the birth would take place. If the newborn’s father was in doubt, and it often was, the birth was registered in the log as the “son of a gun.”

Why do we say that someone arrogant needs to be “taken down a peg”?

A ship’s colours are raised or lowered to signal the ship’s status. “All flags flying” signals great pride, but flags could also indicate degrees between failure and conquest. These flags were once held in place by a system of pegs, so lowering them was done by taking down a peg. This was a shame to the ship and its crew and gave us the expression for humiliation: to be taken down a peg.

Why do we say that someone is “on the spot” when they’re facing big trouble?

To be “on the spot” means you’re in serious difficulty, and it comes from the pirates of the Caribbean. The “spot” is the ace of spades, a card that pirates ceremoniously showed to a condemned person indicating that he was about to be executed as a traitor. To be put on the spot has become much less dire, and instead of being a signal that you’re being put to death, it has evolved into meaning, “Explain yourself or you’re out of here.”

Why would you give a “swashbuckler” or a bully a “wide berth”?

Swashbuckler, a word we use for a pirate, was created from the archaic words swash, meaning “to make noise by striking,” and buckler, meaning “shield.” A swaggering brute yelling and banging his sword on his shield was called a swashbuckler. These bullies were given a “wide berth,” which in nautical lingo means to anchor or berth a ship a safe distance away from another that might cause trouble.

Why does “jury-rigged” mean a temporary repair with whatever is at hand?

In the seventeenth century, when a ship’s mast was damaged at sea, a “jury mast” was rigged to hold the sail until the replacement could be found. Because this was a critical situation the repairs had to be done within a day, or in French un jour, which in this case is the origin of jury. Something jury-rigged is a temporary repair and has nothing to do with “jerry-built,” which means permanent bad work.

Fantastic Facts!



1. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.


2. The “sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick” is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.

3. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to Suppress a sneeze; you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

4. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from History. “Spades” King David; “Clubs” Alexander the Great;” Hearts” Charlemagne; “Diamonds” Julius Caesar.

5. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987, 654,321

6. If a statue of a warrior on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.If the horse has a all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

7. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common?Ans. All invented by women.

8. Honey is the only food that doesn’t spoil.

9. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

10. A snail can sleep for three years.
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