Written by Todd DePastino
Vietnam Navy veteran Donn Nemchick – radioman aboard the USS Constellation (CV-64) – recently sent us the following:
Sailors will be familiar with the old English term “skylarking” used as negative behavior subject to an ass chewing or corporal punishment.
Example: Said over the ship’s loud speaker . . . While on a FOD walk there will be NO F N ” skylarking” by any knucklehead who isn’t taking flight deck safety seriously. Salty language was very common back in the day.The “Air Boss” would harshly chew out (or worse) any sailor who wasn’t being alert to seeing any debris on the deck. You just did not screw (no pun) around.
Anchors aweigh, my boys!
The word goes back centuries to the era of wooden sailing ships, even before the age of modern English. It originally referred to the playful antics of sailors high in a ship’s rigging. These young crew members would climb the masts and slide down the backstays, enjoying moments of levity during long and often monotonous voyages. “Skylarking” evolved from an older word, “skylacing,” which itself originated from the ancient Old English word “lac,” meaning “to play.” Over time, “skylacing” morphed into “skylarking,” eventually coming to signify horseplay in general, whether on ships or in other settings.
A professor at St. Andrew’s College in Scotland lists “lac” as one of 500 words in the Old English Core Vocabulary, meaning its one of the most important and commonly used words spoken and written in England ca. 450-1100. The professor defines the word:
lac, noun, n., play, sacrifice, offering (cp. MnE to lark)
Strange that lac would connote with play and sacrifice. The connection, it seems, is lac‘s association with motion and movement.
Bosworth Toller’s excellent Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online explains:
The idea which lies at the root of the various meanings of [this word] seems to be that of motion. Thus lácan and [Icelandic leika] are used to describe the motion of a vessel riding on the waves, the flight of a bird as it rises and falls in the air, the flickering, wavering motion of flame, and the like . . . From this idea of activity we pass to that of games, playing, dancing &c. [Other] meanings are those of offering, gift, and [because of] the association of dancing and playing with offerings and sacrifices.
In its early usage, “skylarking” was not considered problematic or dangerous. In fact, it was seen as a way for sailors to expend their pent-up energy during periods of inactivity. Given the isolation and harsh conditions aboard ships, keeping morale high was important for maintaining order. The freewheeling energy of skylarking was preferable to more subversive activities like mutinous discussions, which might occur if sailors had too much time to stew in boredom. Engaging in these light-hearted antics on the weather deck—visible and in the open—was a way to let off steam under the watchful eyes of officers.
However, by the mid-19th century, attitudes towards skylarking had shifted. In the U.S. Navy, it became seen as a dangerous activity that could lead to accidents or distract sailors from their duties. The potential for injury and disruption eventually led to skylarking being classified as an offense. The 1849 “Report of the Secretary of the Navy” documented that sailors caught skylarking could face punishment comparable to that for disobedience or drunkenness—three to ten lashes with a “cat-o’-nine-tails.” This shift marked the beginning of a more disciplinary approach to maintaining order aboard ships, as the Navy tightened control over the behavior of its crew.
The shift from positive to negative connotations, I think, is attributable to the increased quality of life for Navy sailors in the modern age. Before the late 19th century, sailors were sometimes unlucky drunks picked up in alleys and sobered up aboard ship–in effect, victims of kidnapping. Sailing for His Majesty or Uncle Sam wasn’t a socially enviable occupation.
But as the Navy professionalized and enlisted personnel acquired rights and recognition and some basic comforts and time off, then work time became more restricted, and sailors had less excuse for skylarking and other dangerous methods of blowing off steam.
Thank you, Donn, for introducing me to yet another new word in the seemingly endless Navy lexicon!