Spin A Yarn

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Spin A Yarn
630 Orange Drive
Suite J
Vacaville, CA 95687
707-469-9446 Phone
707-469-9190 Fax

Hours:
10:00AM-6:00PM Monday-Tuesday
12:00PM-6:00PM Wednesday
10:00AM-6:00PM Thursday
12:00PM-6:00PM Friday
10:00AM-5:00PM Saturday
Closed Sunday

I promised that I would continue to Post some history on the Phrase “Spin A Yarn”, and I have found some news worthy history for you.

“SPIN A YARN” - “It has the ring of a salty expression and is popularly thought to have come from wet weather days when crews would be given the job of ’spinning’ or loosely twisting together yarns of old rope to be used for small tying jobs. Sheltering under the foc’sle head it would have been a great time for telling stories. However, spinning yarn was carried on ashore long before it was at sea and this is probably one of the few shore expressions adopted by seamen. To spin a fibre, especially wood, correctly and ensure it remains the right size, length and twist, the spinner has to continually stretch the material. Thus when the old-timers wanted to suggest that someone was stretching the truth they likened it to “spinning a yarn” From “Salty Dog Talk” by Bill Beavis and Richard G. McCloskey ( Sheridan House, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., 1995).

To “spin a yarn” is to tell a tale. At first this seems and odd combination of words until it’s remembered that, in the old days, women used to spin yarn on spinning wheels. They frequently did this in groups and, to pass the time, they often told each other stories. In time the words came to mean the production of the stories themselves

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