When we say that someone talks like a sailor, that usually refers to their swearing. But in reality, we all do it. The English we use today is awash with jargon originally used by sailors, and we can't fathom why. It likely had to do with large crews on long sea voyages who got used to all those nautical terms, and when anchored on land they kept using them. Their children learned the ropes and by and large continued until these terms infiltrated English permanently, the way they infiltrated the first half of this sentence.
Linguist Dr. Erica Brozovsky of Otherwords (previously at Neatorama) tells us about the seafaring origins of a ton of words, including, strangely, "blog." I like the cut of her jib. Before this video is over, you'll know why so much of a sailor's language became standard parts of English, and you won't be at all surprised.
