Plain Sailing Was Originally Plane Sailing
Sailing is travelling by wind-powered boat. The phrase about things being easy began as a navigation term spelled differently.
Sailing is travelling on water using wind in sails. The familiar phrase has a technical ancestor: *plane sailing* was navigation that treated the sea as a flat plane, a simplification accurate enough for short distances and much easier than the spherical calculation. English reheard it as *plain sailing*, which means the same thing by accident.
- Travelling by sail. *Sailing is her sport.*
- A departure by ship. *Two sailings a day.*
- Plain sailing — easy progress. *After that it was plain sailing.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | sailing | Competitive sailing. |
| Plural | sailings | Cancelled sailings. |
| Verb | sail | Sail at dawn. |
| Person | sailor | An experienced sailor. |
| Related | yachting | Yachting week. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Sailing conditions were poor.The activity.
- The next sailing is at four.A scheduled departure.
- It was not exactly plain sailing.Meaning it was difficult.
Sailing vocabulary
- Tack — to zigzag into the wind
- Jibe or gybe — to turn with the wind behind
- Windward and leeward — towards and away from the wind
- Beam reach — sailing across the wind, often the fastest point
- Becalmed — stopped for want of wind
From Old English *segl*, a sail. *Plane sailing* comes from Latin *planus*, flat, the same root as *plain* — which is why the confusion was so easy.
Plain sailing or plane sailing?
Plain sailing is now standard. Plane sailing was the original navigational term, treating the sea as a flat surface.
Can a boat sail into the wind?
Not directly, but it can sail at an angle to it and zigzag, which is called tacking. Modern rigs can sail surprisingly close to the wind.