Welcome to the "Scuttlebutt" forum

[NCangler]

Thanks to NCangler.com member Crummy for the suggestion to create a forum for members to discuss any topics of interest outside the realm of fishing. Just a reminder to keep discussions in the positive tone of our "family-friendly" policies.

A thank you too to NCangler.com Moderator Topsail Angler for the suggestion of "the Scuttlebutt" as the title of this forum. Here is an interesting bit of information regarding the term:

The term scuttlebutt originally refered to cask on a ship that held the days drinking water (the equivalent of today's water cooler). Sailors would stand around the cask (like most any work place) and converse with co-workers - thus gossip or news on the QT is refered to in the Navy as "scuttlebutt". - Topsail Angler

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Scuttle \Scut"tle\ (sk[u^]t"t'l), n. [OF. escoutille, F.
['e]scoutille, cf. Sp. escotilla; probably akin to Sp.
escotar to cut a thing so as to make it fit, to hollow a
garment about the neck, perhaps originally, to cut a
bosom-shaped piece out, and of Teutonic origin; cf. D. schoot
lap, bosom, G. schoss, Goth. skauts the hem of a garnment.
Cf. Sheet an expanse.]
1. A small opening in an outside wall or covering, furnished
with a lid. Specifically:
(a) (Naut.) A small opening or hatchway in the deck of a
ship, large enough to admit a man, and with a lid for
covering it, also, a like hole in the side or bottom
of a ship.
(b) An opening in the roof of a house, with a lid.
[1913 Webster]

2. The lid or door which covers or closes an opening in a
roof, wall, or the like.
[1913 Webster]

Scuttle butt, or Scuttle cask (Naut.), a butt or cask
with a large hole in it, used to contain the fresh water
for daily use in a ship. --Totten.
[1913 Webster]

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