the.com/lashing
The sailor's quiet superpower: keeping everything tied down while everything tries to come loose.
means A lashing is a length of rope, cord, or strap used to bind objects firmly together, or the act of securing them this way.
from From the verb 'lash,' meaning to bind tightly, which arrived in Middle English from Old French 'lachier' (to lace or fasten), itself from Latin 'laqueare,' to ensnare or noose — a cousin of 'lace' and 'lasso.' The same word also means 'to strike with a whip,' and the two senses likely braided together from the idea of a flexible cord both binding and beating; the seafaring sense of tying down rigging and cargo carried the 'fasten' meaning into the world of sail.
- sailing roots
- Lashings held entire ships together before reliable metal fasteners
- knot family
- Square, diagonal, and shear lashings each grip differently
- double meaning
- Also a verbal flogging, no rope required
- scout staple
- Pioneering projects build towers from poles and lashings alone
- surprising strength
- Friction, not knots, does most of the holding
cat o' nine tails — whip with 9 knotted cords used in british naval punishment, abolished 1948
flogging at singapore — judicial caning punishment in singapore: michael fay received 6 strokes in 1994
bullwhip cracking — performance art where whips break sound barrier, popularized by indiana jones films