three sheets to the wind

== English == === Etymology === This phrase is derived in reference to sailing and sailing ships, and implies an individual "[u]nsteady from drink" (Smyth & Belcher, 1867; Martin, 2023). The "sheet" referred to is the nautical term for a rope (line) that controls the trim of a sail. The phrase was originally "three sheets in the wind", but also appears in its early examples with the number references "two" and "one", and is thought to derive from the fact that when "sheets [of a sailing vessel] are loose and blowing about in the wind[,] then the sails will flap" such that the boat lurches about "like a drunken sailor" (Martin, 2023). As of the last editing of Gary Martin's entry for the idiom, the phrase was most often presented as it is in the title (i.e., "...to [rather than 'in'] the wind"; Martin, 2023). The attribution of the expression's origin to the form with the preposition "in" is supported by a case of the phrase in print of the "two sheets" variation, in The Journal of Rev. Francis Asbury (1815, entry for 26 September 1813), which recounts the author's travels in the South, in the United States: "The tavernkeepers were kind and polite... [but] sometimes two sheets in the wind." (Martin, 2023). The "three sheets" variation is found in Pierce Egan's Real Life in London (1821), which says "Old Wax and Bristles is about three sheets in the wind." (Martin, 2023). About the variations of the number appearing, Martin states,Sailors at that time had a sliding scale of drunkenness; three sheets was the falling over stage; tipsy was just 'one sheet in the wind', or 'a sheet in the wind's eye' (Martin, 2023). A further example is Catherine Ward's "The Fisher's Daughter" (1824), in which "...Mr. Blust... instead of being one sheet in the wind, was likely to get to three before he took his departure." (Martin, 2023). Hence, "three sheets in/to the wind" describes an inebriated person (Smyth & Belcher, 1867; Martin, 2023) no longer in control, and—at least historically—lesser numbers implying lessened states of incapacity (Martin, 2023). === Pronunciation === === Adjective === three sheets to the wind (not comparable) (idiomatic) Unsteady from drink. ==== Synonyms and related terms ==== four sheets to the wind four sheets in the wind three sheets in the wind two sheets to the wind two sheets in the wind a sheet to the wind a sheet in the wind a sheet in the wind's eye See also Thesaurus:drunk === References === Smyth, William Henry; Belcher, Edward (1867) "Three Sheets in the Wind" (dictionary entry), In The Sailor’s Word-Book: An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, Including Some More Especially Military and Scientific... as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc., p. 680. London: Blackie and Son. https://books.google.com/books?id=y7HqO9XAwk8C&q=680. Accessed 5 November 2023. Martin, Gary (November 2023) [original publication date unknown] "The Meaning and Origin of the Expression: Three Sheets to the Wind, The Phrase Finder (Phrases.org.uk), https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/three-sheets-to-the-wind.html, Accessed 5 November 2023.