Three Sheets To The Wind

I do not know if I mentioned this before, but here is where the title phrase comes from.

First off, there are NO ROPES on a boat. Got it? None. You will never find a rope on any boat. What you will find are LINES. Lots and lots of LINES. There will be bow lines, stern lines, anchor lines, and so forth. Only on land is rope called a rope.

On sailboats, you will find a special line that is called a SHEET. Sheets secure sails, and sails make a boat move.

Back in the golden age of sail, the standard design for an ocean going craft called for three masts. Eash mast had a sail, and a sheet to hold the sail(s). With me so far?

IF your three sheets were flapping all willy-nilly in the breeze, it meant that your sails were also flapping. Flapping sails can not catch the wind, or move a boat. As a consequence, the boat would have no control, and would go wherever the wind and currents pushed it. It was totally un-steerable.

So when a person is "three sheets to the wind" after drinking too much, they stumble about aimlessly, going wherever gravity pulls them. Kind of like a boat with no sails. They will collide with walls, fall down, not see trees, and do forth.

And speaking of people that are three sheets to the wind, check THIS VIDEO OUT. Tell me what you think in the comments. I think someone has had a little too much Christmas cheer.