? ? - The Trick Question - ? ?
Fri, 15 Dec 2000
Ron Knief <ronknief@mediaone.net> sent along this definition from the Oxford English Dictionary -
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TrickNaut. The time allotted to a man on duty at the helm; a spell; a turn; esp. in to take or stand one’s trick ( at the wheel etc.)
1669 Sturmy Mariner’s mag. Seamen when their trike or turn have been out, and the Log hove. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) The spells to steer the ship; which.. Is generally called the trick. 1835 Marryat His duty is to take his trick at the wheel.1892 M Grass in Science 19 Aug 99 The male (robin) who shares the duty of sitting, when going to do his trick, almost invariably flies..in the same path. 1912 [see trick-duty 13].
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From: SimonsenA <SimonsenA@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 15:03:01 EDT
Subject: "The Trick Question"
Bill Simons got it right - "Trick" is a nautical term for a watch that a sailor stands; and, with us Navy types hanging around Sinop it was picked up back in the 1960s at Sinop by the other services.
Now for a new question: Who remembers "BAYANAMI"?Arne Simonsen, CTICM retired (Sinop 69-70, 79-80)
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From: Ron1SG@aol.com "Ron Eddins"
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 09:29:54 -0500 (EST)
To: bsimons@pics.com
Subject: Sinop
. . . . . . . I got an e-mail from someone asking about the origins of the word "trick". I don't know the answer. Maybe you could put it on the home page and let the readers answer it. It would help generate some interest in the site, and besides, I'm kinda interested in the answer myself.
Here is a copy of it:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>Subj: Sinop
>Date: 97-11-29 23:46:05 EST
>From: Jwilli941 "Todd Hill"
>To: Ron 1SG "Ron Eddins"
>Hello,
>I was stationed in Sinop from '84-'86 and have a question that no one
>seems to have the answer for. Why where the shifts called 'Tricks'?
>If you know please tell me because whenever I tell my friends for the
>umpteenth time that I was on Trick 3 and they ask 'why is it called a Trick?'
>I'm running outta funny answers to give them!
>Thanks- Todd Hill
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Bill Simons added:
In my Oxford American Dictionary (copyright 1980), the eighth and last definition of the word "trick" is - -" a person's turn of duty at the helm of a ship, usually for two hours. "
This definition suggests to me that we borrowed the term from our Naval brethern. Just where they got the term remains to be explained. Personally, I think that the Navy just makes up new names for common items in order to be different, i.e., toilet = head, floor = deck, wall = bulkhead, window = porthole, etc.
Was the term "trick" used throughout the Army for shift work or was it just an ASA thing??
At 10:25 AM 12/13/97 - 0800, Ron Knief wrote:
Here's a possible definition of trick:
Main Entry: lobster shift
Function: noun
Date: circa 1933
: a work shift (as on a newspaper) that covers the late evening and early morning hours -- called also lobster trick.