Why do sailors scream half a half? Where did this word come from, what meaning does it have? How did tradition take root, and how did it become entrenched in the navy? There are answers to these questions, and an inquisitive person will easily find them.
“Half a tune!” - One of the many foreign borrowings characteristic of the Russian fleet, he began to take root from the time of Peter the Great. Tell about it in detail.
Peter the Great and the development of the Russian fleet
Enormous efforts in the development of the Russian fleet were made by Peter the Great - in fact, it was with him that the fleet began to exist as an organized structure. In his work, he relied heavily on foreign experience, and in particular, on Dutch achievements. Along with experience and experience, Russian-speaking sailors received professional terminology, which was successfully adopted and introduced into the everyday life of sailors. The word “half-a-half” is just a slightly altered Dutch term, a command that has been used extensively on both merchant and military ships.
What is the meaning of the word “half a half”?
In the Dutch language there is the word "val onder", it translates as "fall down, below." He was shouted out when lifting, moving goods, when loading heavy objects on ships in order to attract people's attention from below. After all, an object could fall, fall, and be under load is dangerous.The shout was reinterpreted by Russian-speaking sailors, and began to sound like a “half a half!”. But he still had to warn of danger.
Over time, the scope of the warning shout expanded, it began to mean a danger of any kind, requiring immediate attention. In the hostilities, in which the fleet and the people serving on it took part, the cry “half a ton!” Also began to be used, which easily and organically replaced the exclamation “cheers!”. The sailors went on the attack with a cry familiar to them.
The meaning of the word “half a half” has become very broad. Coming from naval jargon, it settled in everyday speech, received a lot of additional meanings. In the Navy, it denotes any contingency event, starting from verification, ending with an emergency in work, and even the naval service itself. Hear the cry “half a half!” You can even firefighters, in this case we will talk about the direct meaning of the word, as it is translated from Dutch. That is, about the danger from above, the risk of a collapse, the fall of a heavy object.
So the cry is “half a half!” It is of Dutch origin, originally the word denoted danger from above, a heavy load under which it is impossible to be. Subsequently, the word was firmly entrenched in marine slang, became a designation of any danger, as well as an exclamation, the meaning of which is equivalent to the land “cheers!”. With this cry, the sailors really went on the attack, initially it was a kind of command to the start of boarding, and then it could be heard in land operations conducted by Russian marines.
In the future, the sea call will probably remain relevant, the fleet jealously adheres to its traditions and does not part with them.Many words from the sea jargon are distributed so widely that they become well-known in all areas, this cry can be considered a great example, clearly illustrating this statement.
