the.com/maiden voyage
The one trip where confidence and evidence are not yet on speaking terms.
means The first official outing of a ship (or, loosely, any new venture) before it has a track record to point to.
from From 'maiden' meaning unmarried, untested, first-of-its-kind — a sense that stretches back through Old English 'mægden' for girl or virgin. The voyage is 'maiden' the way a maiden speech or maiden flight is: it hasn't yet proven itself against the world. The phrase became fixed in nautical use as shipbuilders and press alike needed a term for that nervous, ceremonial first crossing — most famously, and darkly, tied to the Titanic's.
- origin
- Maiden meant untested, like an unmarried woman
- famous flop
- Titanic never finished hers
- irony
- The safest voyage gets the most nervous champagne
- modern use
- Now covers rockets, apps, and awkward first dates