This wiki has been automatically Dog watches: The half-watches of two hours each, from 4 to 6 and 6 to 8pm on board ship. Thus the daily watches are made uneven in number, seven instead of six in the twenty-four hours. Otherwise the same man would be on watch at the same time daily throughout a cruise. The term is over two hundred years old.[1] Among suggestions for its origin are “dog-watch” and “docked watch.” Theodore Hook suggested that it is a watch which is “cur-tailed.” Various others have been offered.[2]
References / notes
- ↑ If you include the time since the publication date of the source, the term is just under three years old.
- ↑ Edward Fraser and John Gibbons (1925). Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases. Routledge, London p.80.
The above term is listed in our Compendium of the Great War.
This compendium forms the central hub of words, phrases, people, and places relative to the Great War period of 1914–1918. These also include battles, political events, ships, trench slang, British and American service terms and expressions in everyday use, nicknames, sobriquets, the titles of British and Commonwealth Regiments and their origins, and also warfare in general. These words and phrases are contemporary with the war, which is reflected in the language used, some of which may seem derogatory by today's standards. Feel free to expand upon and improve this content.