Three Sheets to the Wind

Ever encountered any one at a bar, have them point to a friend or stranger and say “that one right there is three sheets to the wind.”? No? Well if you have you may be interested to know this phrase comes from the days of sailing, the oldest print record being from 1813. The varying levels of sailors drunkenness depended on how many sheets they had to their windward side (something you don’t want to do while sailing)- metaphorically speaking. So a sailor who was incoherently stumbling around at the bar was ‘3 sheets in the wind’, someone only just a little tipsy was ‘one sheet in the wind’, or ‘a sheet in the wind’s eye’.
Enjoy your new conversation starter the next time you’re out on the town!