Post #491073

2026-03-02 04:45 UTC

Every time I say &quot;by and large&quot;, I remember that the expression, which is generally understood to mean &quot;generally&quot; -- see what I did there -- is of nautical origin. The UK&#39;s Royal Navy created many figures of speech we use today in entirely different contexts. &quot;By&quot; means &quot;sailing close to against the wind&quot;, and &quot;large&quot; means &quot;sailing with the wind behind us&quot;. A ship that sailed well &quot;by and large&quot;, was a ship that could do okay regardless of which way the wind was blowing. i.e.: &quot;Generally&quot;.

Replies (7)

@GeePawHill@mastodon.social 2026-03-02 04:48

Humans are, by and large, awful, and I don't think we're really gonna work out in the long run. But language. Human language is such a glorious thing, it almost redeems us as a species.

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@letscallhimsteve@mastodon.social 2026-03-02 08:53

@GeePawHill@mastodon.social One is never too old to learn new things.

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@greem@cyberplace.social 2026-03-02 10:31

@GeePawHill@mastodon.social "Thick as two short planks and twice as heavy" is a good one, too.

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@movation@fnordon.de 2026-03-02 13:42

@GeePawHill@mastodon.social thank your for that lesson in language history, very much appreciated (and I love your ONi posts, thanks for these, too)

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@LJ@zirk.us 2026-03-02 14:00

@GeePawHill@mastodon.social i did not know that! Cool!

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@RonJeffries@mastodon.social 2026-03-02 22:09

@GeePawHill@mastodon.social I always took it as meaning 'more or less", not as affirming as generally. Interesting.

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@paulcowdell@hcommons.social 2026-03-03 12:56

@GeePawHill@mastodon.social I guess reinforcing your point later in the thread about flexibility and inventiveness with language, this phrase always make me think of an Emo Philips routine about his teacher: 'She was, bi and large...' I've recently finally read The Canterbury Tales all the way through, and am very taken with Chaucer's phrase 'Be as be may' (=Be that as it may)

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