WHY “SMACKS"
The word “smack! 1 for a fishing boat goes back to the. days of the Norsemen, when the Danes and Norwegians gave to the tvpe of boat the name “snekkn, or snake. Long, lean galleys they were. The resemblance was further suggested liv the dragon’s or snake’s head which often formed their figure-head. Later in history, when the Dutch became the great seafaring people, the word passed into their language, slightly altered (to suit, their longue) to “smak. lhe Dutch boat was of different build—fat and broad-beamed. We took the. word from the Dutch, and turned it into “smack.” At first it was applied to the small sailing cutter which used to act as a sorb of passenger tender for sea-going ships. Now we.confine the word almost entirely to the fairsized open sea-fishing boat propelled by sail.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19330729.2.127
Bibliographic details
Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 29 July 1933, Page 11
Word Count
139WHY “SMACKS" Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 29 July 1933, Page 11
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