"Close Quarters," "Overboard," and "To Go by the Board": Nautical Origins of Three Common Expressions

Close quarters, overboard, and to go by the board are modern everyday expressions derived from old nautical lingo.

The original meaning of close quarters was defined in a 1769 mariner dictionary: "certain strong barriers of wood stretching across a merchant-ship in several places. They are used as a place of retreat when a ship is boarded by her adversary, and are...fitted with...loop holes, through which to fire" (Oxford English Dictionary).

Quarters in this context refers to stations or posts assigned to crew members for particular purposes, as in "battle quarters."

The term close quarters emerged in the 18th century. During the 17th century (and for some time afterward), the same structures on a ship were called close-fights.

By the 19th century, close quarters had extended from referring to the structures built for close fighting to denoting the immediate contact that occurred with a foe at the structures.

Today close quarters are any kind of immediate contact or close range, as in "a big party in a small apartment led to close quarters for the guests." Close quarters may also extend to another kind of closeness, an attitude of intently searching scrutiny, as in "the researcher came to close quarters with a new formula."

The board is the side of a ship. Because falling off a ship was such a serious daily concern for old-time sailors, they invented many different ways of referring specifically to someone or something falling down past the board and into the water.

One such phrase was over (the) board, that is, over the ship's side (board) and down into the sea. From before 1000 to 1600, the term was usually spelled open (over board or over the board). From 1600 to 1800, it was generally hyphenated (over-board). Since 1800 it has been spelled as one word (overboard).

Today overboard still means over the side of a ship, but it also has extended senses. To go to extremes, especially of enthusiasm, is to go overboard, as in "he always goes overboard on this subject." Overboard also means into discard, as in "she threw her inhibitions overboard."

Another phrase that sailors used in reference to falling off a ship was by the board, that is, by the ship's side (board) and into the water. To slip by the board was to slip down the ship's side.

More widely used was the expression to go by the board, literally meaning to fall overboard.

Today to go by the board has extended senses as well: to be gone for good, to be thrown into discard, and to be passed by and beyond recall, as in "when all the teams rejected him, his career was gone by the board."
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The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989.