Does anyone across your side of the pond know how the term watchstander came into being? To my version of English, the word feels awkward, although I warrant that one does mostly stand during the watch.
We keep watch.
The stand-on vessel is the one that holds or keeps itâs course.
I think the Navy had watchstanders long before the '72 COLREGS.
Kennebec_CaptainSuper Moderator
The stand-on vessel is the one that holds or keeps itâs course.
As on the Fitz?
What is wrong with this website⌠it keeps jumping all about the place like a demented rabit withon speed⌠I canât see what I sm typing
As on . Fitz?
Working as usual here. (PC, Win10, Chrome)
I was in the US Navy 1965-1993, and âwatchstandersâ was always the term applied.
I did two deployments with the NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic, in company with destroyers and frigates from UK, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Germany, Portugal, and France. I believe all used the term watch keeper.
When I hear the term âkeeperâ now, I tend to think of the goalie⌠
Also, on this side of the pond, we spell âcommonâ with a double âmâ.
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âStand-onâ in a nautical context, including COLREGS, means to keep or hold the shipâs course.
**12.** Nautical To take or hold a particular course or direction: a ship standing to windward
Yes, I understand. I thought you were implying that âwatchstanderâ was derived from âstand-on vesselâ which strikes me very much as a bureaucratic neologism coined, I suspected, for the use of COLREGS since âright of wayâ was no longer appropriate.
âStandâ itself encompasses the full meaning of âstand-onâ according to DeKerchove (1949)
Tomato, Tomato
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nouns usually come from the verb
what are you doing âstanding watchâ
Stand (past tense stood )
Of a ship or its captain, to steer, sail, or steam, usually used in conjunction with a specified direction or destination, e.g., The ship stood out of the harbor or The ship stood toward the east or The ship stood toward the missing vesselâs last known position .
The old mans admonishment about using his chair just ainât the same. âYou keep a watch, you donât sit oneâ doesnât work as well.
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Then you guys have greenhornsâŚ
We have novices.
I have never understood âgreenhornâ. Those animals like stags cattle and goats that grow horns donât start with green ones. They start short or soft.
Green has long been applied to youth or inexperience. Maybe from the green color (or colour if you prefer) of a sapling , a young tree? As for the horn part, even the savvy NYT magazine canât find the source.
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/23/magazine/on-language-greenhorn.html
Although my grasp of the English language is rather limited I would like to give my tuppence on the subject.
The etymology of watchstander is straightforward, the word is a simple contraction of two words like in craneship. I cannot find a date when this word was used for the first time. I suppose that since man went to sea, for their own safety, they must have kept some system of watchkeeping and watchstanding but they probably gave it different names.
The Online Etymology Dictionary does not even know the words watchstander or watchkeeper.
In Dutch the word is âWachtofficierâ (Watch Officer), also âStuurman van de wachtâ (Mate of the Watch). In the Dutch Navy the âWatch Standard Aâ must be achieved. This is proof that the commander is confident that someone can function independently as a watchkeeping officer under normal circumstances.
I didnât research it nor given it much thought until now but I would suspect the phrase âwatchstanderâ in whatever language predates humans formalizing a process of navigating a boat or ship. Probably some shepherd 20,000 years ago caught his son dozing off one night & told him to stand up to prevent himself from going to sleep & watch out for predators.
When operating bilingually, it pays to be careful what you use for references:
which can lead to situations such as these:
Cheers,
Earl
English as she is Spoke is the source used by Google translate.