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prettygoodwordsnotter (SNOT-uhr) - n., a short lanyard which suspends the heel end of a sprit from the mast.
The sprit being the upper, diagonal yard of a spritsail. This shows the sprit but not the snotter:
Thanks, Wikimedia Commons!
You can adjust the snotter to increase or reduce the tension in the spritsail, as part of managing it. Note that some dictionaries instead give a much older meaning from the days of sailing man-o-wars: a rope going over a yardarm, used to bend a tripping line to, in sending down topgallant and royal yards. Sometimes written as snorter or snouter, but the nautical pronunciation is as spelled. Origin unknown.
---L.
The sprit being the upper, diagonal yard of a spritsail. This shows the sprit but not the snotter:
Thanks, Wikimedia Commons!
You can adjust the snotter to increase or reduce the tension in the spritsail, as part of managing it. Note that some dictionaries instead give a much older meaning from the days of sailing man-o-wars: a rope going over a yardarm, used to bend a tripping line to, in sending down topgallant and royal yards. Sometimes written as snorter or snouter, but the nautical pronunciation is as spelled. Origin unknown.
---L.
