Don’t forget coxswain pronounced cocksun
You would be amazed how many short forms are used in sailing, sometimes crippled to letter salad with apostrophes. Fo’c’sle is not alone, by far.
Boatswain -> Bosun -> Bo’s’n
My favorite is “lee” and “leeward.” Both have to do with something being down wind. The former is pronounced as it’s spelled, but the first syllable of the latter is pronounced “loo” or “lew.”
Of course, there’s also the Leeward Islands which are often (mis)pronounced as they’re spelled because most people don’t sail anymore!
Lots of naval terms aren’t pronounced the way you would think, e.g. boatswain and gunwale pronounced differently than they are spelled.
Boatswain sounds like bo-sun
Gunwale sounds like gun-ull
What happens when the fo’c’sle falls off?
Well, it’s not supposed to do that, no. But I want to reassure the public that fo’c’sles are safe.
