The Sailor's Word-Book Part 175

In a more limited sense it is divided into--1. The Atlantic Ocean. 2.

The Pacific Ocean. 3. The Indian Ocean. 4. The Southern Ocean.

OCEAN-GOING SHIP. In contradistinction to a coaster.

OCHRAS. A Gaelic term for the gills of a fish.

OCTAGON. A geometrical figure which has eight equal sides and angles.

ODHARAG. The name of the young cormorant in our northern isles.

OE. An island [from the Ang.-Sax.] _Oes_ are violent whirlwinds off the Faeroe Islands, said at times to raise the water in syphons.

OFERLANDERS. Small vessels on the Rhine and the Meuse.

OFF. The opposite to _near_. Also applied to a ship sailing from the sh.o.r.e into the open sea. Also, implies abreast of, or near, as "We were off Cape Finisterre."--_Nothing off!_ The order to the helmsman not to suffer the ship to fall off from the wind.

OFFAL. Slabs, chips, and refuse of timber, sold in fathom lots at the dockyards.

OFF AND ON. When a ship beating to windward approaches the sh.o.r.e by one board, and recedes from it when on the other. Also used to denote an undecided person. Dodging off a port.

OFF AT A TANGENT. Going in a hurry, or in a testy humour.

OFF DUTY. An officer, marine, or seaman in his watch below, &c. An officer is sometimes put "off duty" as a punishment.

OFFENCES. Crimes which are not capital, but by the custom of the service come under the articles of war.

OFFICER. A person having some command. A term applied both in the royal and mercantile navies to any one of a ship's company who ranks above the fore-mast men.

OFFICER OF THE DAY. A military officer whose immediate duty is to attend to the interior economy of the corps to which he belongs, or of those with which he may be doing duty.

OFFICER OF THE WATCH. The lieutenant or other officer who has charge of, and commands, the watch.

OFFICERS' EFFECTS. The effects of officers who die on board are not generally sold; but should they be submitted to auction, the sale is to be confined entirely amongst the officers.

OFFICIAL LETTERS. All official letters which are intended to be laid before the commander-in-chief, must be signed by the officers themselves, specifying their rank under their signatures. All applications from petty officers, seamen, and marines, relative to transfer, discharge, or other subjects of a similar nature, are to be made through the captain or commanding officer. They ought to be written on foolscap paper, leaving a margin, to the left hand, of one-fourth of the breadth, and superscribed on the cover "On H. M. Service."

OFFING. Implies to sea-ward; beyond anchoring ground.--_To keep a good offing_, is to keep well off the land, while under sail.

OFF-RECKONING. A proportion of the full pay of troops retained from them, in special cases, until the period of final settlement, to cover various expected charges (for ship-rations and the like).

OFF SHE GOES! Means run away with the purchase fall. Move to the tune of the fifer. The first move when a vessel is launched.

OFF THE REEL. At once; without stopping. In allusion to the way in which the log-line flies off the reel when a ship is sailing fast.

OFFWARD. The situation of a ship which lies aground and leans from the sh.o.r.e; "the ship heels offward," and "the ship lies with her stern to the offward," is when her stern is towards the sea.

OGEE. In old-pattern guns, the doubly curved moulding added, by way of finish, to several of the rings.

OGGIDENT. Jack's corruption of _aguardiente_ [Sp.], a fiery and very unwholesome spirit.

OIL-b.u.t.t. A name for the black whale.

OILLETS, OR ILLETS. Apertures for firing through, in the walls of a fort.

OITER. A Gaelic word still in use for a sand-bank.

OJANCO SNAPPER. A tropical fish of the Mesoprion family, frequenting the deep-water banks of the West Indies.

OKE. A Levant weight of 2-3/4 lbs., common in Mediterranean commerce.

OLD COUNTRY. A very general designation for Great Britain among the Americans. The term is never applied to any part of the continent of Europe.

OLD HAND. A knowing and expert person.

OLD HORSE. Tough salt-beef.

OLD ICE. In polar parlance, that of previous seasons.

OLD-STAGER. One well initiated in anything.

OLD-STAGERISM. An adherence to established customs; sea conservatism.

OLDSTERS. In the old days of c.o.c.kpit tyranny, mids of four years'

standing, and master's-mates, &c., who sadly bullied the youngsters.

OLD WIFE. A fish about 2 feet long, and 9 inches high in the back, having a small mouth, a large eye, a broad dorsal fin, and a blue body.

Also, the brown long-tailed duck of Pennant.

OLD WOMAN'S TOOTH. A peculiar chisel for stub morticing.

OLERON CODE. A celebrated collection of maritime laws, compiled and promulgated by Richard Cur-de-Lion, at the island of Oleron, near the coast of Poitou, the inhabitants of which have been deemed able mariners ever since. It is reckoned the best code of sea-laws in the world, and is recorded in the black book of the admiralty.

OLICK. The torsk or tusk, _Gadus callarias_.

OLIVER. A west-country term for a young eel.

OLPIS. A cla.s.sic term for one who, from a sh.o.r.e eminence, watched the course which shoals of fish took, and communicated the result to the fishers. (_See_ CONDER.)

OMBRE. A fish, more commonly called grayling, or _umber_.

ON. The sea is said to be "on" when boisterous; as, there is a high sea on.

ON A BOWLINE. Close to the wind, when the sail will not stand without hauling the bowlines.

ONAGER. An offensive weapon of the middle ages.

ON A WIND. Synonymous with _on a bowline_.