fo’c’s’le correctly?
It is a varient of the word forcastle, the part of a ship forward of the main mast, or on merchant ships, the forward crew berthing above the main deck.
In book after book I come across “foc’sle,” “fo’c’sle” and “foc’s’le!”
Hey, publishers! Hey, copy editors! It’s really easy – forecastle.
Just replace the bolded letters with an apostrophe.
Either that or use a dictionary.
Gee, and I use that word ALL THE DAMN TIME!!!
Things get rusty with lack of use… just ask Mr. Happy!
I suspect people don’t like words with more than one apostrophe in them. Strict logic says that you are correct, but logic doesn’t always rule in the world of grammar and spelling. It may annoy the language mavens, but in the final analysis, popular usage REALLY DOES determine what is “correct”.
I have to admit, I’ve never seen “forecastle” with the three apostrophes as you’ve used it anywhere. And me a big Hornblower fan. On the other hand, I’ve never understood how “forecastle” could get worn down to “fo’c’s’le” or “boatswain” to “bosun” (and why not complain that it isn’t “bo’s’n”?), but I’m just a landlubber.
Main Entry: fore·cas·tle
Pronunciation: 'fOk-s&l; 'fOr-"ka-s&l, 'for-
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1 : the forward part of the upper deck of a ship
2 : the crew’s quarters usually in a ship’s bow
…forcastle, ChiefScott?
I always thought it was spelled forecastle, but pronounced FOK-sul
Damned caffeine deficiency!
Does it have anything with Hornblower having to scream the word at the top of his lungs in a force 10 gale?
If anyone yelled “fo’c’s’l” to me in a gale I think I might easily misinterpret it as a crudity. Don’t they generally ADD letters and syllables to increase comprehension under difficult transmission? (“niner” or “ni-yun” so you won’t confuse “9” with “5” in the presence of static)
Don’t get to excited about it, Cheif. You might loose you’re mind.
As I said in the OP, Cajun and Johnny:
I understand that “forecastle” is pronounced “FOK-sul.” But if attempting to spell its varient, it should be spelled correctly.
And yeah, I had a typo, Cajun.
Well, I’m gonna be a dick right here. Please for(e?)give me, Chief.
It’s also variAnt.
Chief, doesn’t that just take the wind out of your sails when you pitch a quality bitch, only to make a damned simaliar mistake on your OP? Life’s cruel that way sometimes, well, that and impotence.
BTW, you explained what a fo’c’s’le is, yet I still have no idea what it does, or where it is. Damn mariners and their lingo.
Damn you Unc! You beat me to it!
Chief, how about if I stay off your poopdeck and you stay off my foc’sle ok?
: D&R :
Was watching the local news do a story on the Coast Guard station up in Duluth a couple of years ago. As they were interviewing a puddle pirate the title bar at the bottom of the screen identified him as a bosens mate third class.
Uh, that’s boatswain, ya ijits. ::insert rolleyes smilie here::
Yeah, I know it’s tricky to spell, but you think they could’ve asked, you know?
Coxswain is another. Hell, I was doing good if I could tell the blunt end from the pointy and and not get suckered into looking at the sea bat some guy caught.
Homer: Does the “poop deck” mean what I think it does?
Captain Tenille: HAHA! I like the cut of your jib.
What the hell do I know. I was on flattops and worked on airplanes. There wasn’t a poop deck (AFAIK) and the forecastle is indoors. We did have a mezzanine though.
Ironically Homer’s comment was about a sub, which doesn’t have a poop deck either.