And the ubergeek chimes in: A jib is the sail in front of the mast. It is smaller than the other kind of sail that goes in front of a mast, a genoa which sort of reaches back past the mast into mainsail territory.
There seems to be some debate as to whether the "cut" refers to how well the sail has been set, thereby indicating how efficient and effective a sailor is, or whether someone is flying the correct sail which would indicate something similar. I also read that apparently one could tell the nationality of a vessel by the sails it flew. Or you could just look at those mandatory flags which I think would be way simpler.
One source suggests that a jib is salty speak for "face". But I don't think I'd feel comfortable telling someone that they have egg on their jib.
On the column, as always with Colbert is it hard to know when he is being flippant or devastatingly depressing, but for me the bit that stuck was:
Our nation is at a Fork in the Road. Some say we should go Left; some say go Right. I say, "Doesn’t this thing have a reverse gear?" Let’s back this country up to a time before there were forks in the road — or even roads.
When you run out of forks, and you are headed towards a chasm, the horizon gets pretty limited. So are the cutlery options.
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Date: 2007-10-16 01:04 am (UTC)There seems to be some debate as to whether the "cut" refers to how well the sail has been set, thereby indicating how efficient and effective a sailor is, or whether someone is flying the correct sail which would indicate something similar. I also read that apparently one could tell the nationality of a vessel by the sails it flew. Or you could just look at those mandatory flags which I think would be way simpler.
One source suggests that a jib is salty speak for "face". But I don't think I'd feel comfortable telling someone that they have egg on their jib.
On the column, as always with Colbert is it hard to know when he is being flippant or devastatingly depressing, but for me the bit that stuck was:
Our nation is at a Fork in the Road. Some say we should go Left; some say go Right. I say, "Doesn’t this thing have a reverse gear?" Let’s back this country up to a time before there were forks in the road — or even roads.
When you run out of forks, and you are headed towards a chasm, the horizon gets pretty limited. So are the cutlery options.