TIL that the forward part of a ship, the forecastle, is pronounced (and sometimes written as) "fo'c'sle"

Lots of naval terms aren't pronounced the way you would think, e.g. boatswain and gunwale pronounced differently than they are spelled.

Boatswain sounds like bow-son

Gunwale sounds like gun-ull

For people reading the title and trying to pronounce this like a 3 syllable French word, Wikipedia pronunciation says it like "Fok-sull", like "folk" minus the L and "sull" like sullied.

My favorite is “lee” and “leeward.” Both have to do with something being down wind. The former is pronounced as it’s spelled, but the first syllable of the latter is pronounced “loo” or “lew.”

Of course, there’s also the Leeward Islands which are often (mis)pronounced as they’re spelled because most people don’t sail anymore!

What happens when the fo'c'sle falls off?

TIL that forward part of a ship is called forecastle

Don’t forget coxswain pronounced cocksun

You would be amazed how many short forms are used in sailing, sometimes crippled to letter salad with apostrophes. Fo'c'sle is not alone, by far.

I knew that and it took all day for it to percolate that I'd learned it from Kingdom of Loathing.

Folks-sull

It's Worcestershire all over again...

Fok this sull!

Fox 'ole?