Three Sheets To The Wind
personally I’ve never been three sheets to the wind, but I bet you have. You might think at first glance that this is referring to sails, but actually in nautical terminology the sheet refers to the ropes that tie to the bottom corner of each sail and hold it fast. If there were three sheets loose and flapping in the wind the sail would be blowing around and the boat would lurch about like a drunken sailor, or you on a Friday night.
In the 1800’s sailors had a drunkenness scale. Three sheets was when you were at the falling down phase. Tipsy was “one sheet to the wind” or “a sheet in the wind’s eye”. An example appears in the novel The Fisher’s Daughter, by Catherine Ward, 1824: “Wolf replenished his glass at the request of Mr. Blust, who, instead of being one sheet in the wind, was likely to get to three before he took his departure”.
☛ Read Next: Why Does The Room Spin When You’re Drunk?
