Any port in a storm is a proverb that loosely means that when someone is in trouble they cannot wait for the perfect solution. The phrase has been used in popular culture and politics since at least 1749. The original meaning of this nautical phrase was that a ship at sea in rough weather had no choice of harbor for shelter. [1]
The first known publication of the phrase was in a 1749 erotic novel: John Cleland's Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure . The phrase, "Pooh!", says he "my dear, any port in a storm." [2] [3] [4] The phrase "any port in a storm" was used to describe a private theatrical play hosted by Lord Eldon in 1809: it was reported in the Augusta Columbian Centinel . [5] In 1841 the phrase became a political slogan for the Whig Party's Winfield Scott as a candidate for US president when party members were opposed to Henry Clay they said, "Give us any port in a storm." [6] In 1908, the phrase appeared in a popular song composed by Kerry Mills and Arthur J. Lamb entitled "Any Old Port in a Storm". [7]
It is widely believed that international maritime law allows mariners in distress to "lawfully seek shelter in the closest harbor, regardless of nationality". However, it is not clear that such a doctrine exists. [8]
The metaphor is widely used, as in an episode of The Wire, "Port in a Storm". [9] It is sometimes a play on words with port wine, as in an episode of Columbo. [10] The variant "not just any port in a storm" has been used in a variety of contexts, including in reference to port wine. [11]
Peter Michael Falk was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running NBC series Columbo, for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award (1973). In 1996, TV Guide ranked Falk No. 21 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. He received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013.
1749 (MDCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 1749th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 749th year of the 2nd millennium, the 49th year of the 18th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1740s decade. As of the start of 1749, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The word is a portmanteau of back and acronym.
Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure—popularly known as Fanny Hill—is an erotic novel by English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London, it is considered "the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel". It is one of the most prosecuted and banned books in history.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1797.
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, such as what grapes may be grown, maximum grape yields, alcohol level, and other quality factors may also apply before an appellation name may legally appear on a wine bottle label. The rules that govern appellations are dependent on the country in which the wine was produced.
Columbo is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie. Columbo then aired less frequently on ABC from 1989 to 2003.
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world, and is frequently named the best natural harbor in the world. It is also known as Upper New York Bay, which is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne. The name may also refer to the entirety of New York Bay including Lower New York Bay.
Chesil Cove is a curved steep bank forming the south-east end of 29-kilometre (18 mi) Chesil Beach in Dorset, England. It is thus part of one of three large shingle structures in Britain, extending from West Bay to the Isle of Portland, the latter acting more firmly as a great barrier (groyne) which stops tidal action from washing the beach away and leads to the high depositions by wind and tide action forming the grand curved bank of this "cove". The "cove", bill and much of Chesil Beach give shelter from the prevailing winds and waves for much of Weymouth Bay, the town of Weymouth and the village of Chiswell. It forms part of the Jurassic Coast.
James Burney was an English rear-admiral, who accompanied Captain Cook on his last two voyages. He later wrote two books on naval voyages and a third on the game of whist.
A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion. A red herring may be used intentionally, as in mystery fiction or as part of rhetorical strategies, or may be used in argumentation inadvertently.
Literature of the 18th century refers to world literature produced during the years 1700–1799.
Fanny Hill is a BBC adaptation of John Cleland's controversial 1748 novel Fanny Hill, written by Andrew Davies and directed by James Hawes. This is the first television adaptation of the novel. Fanny Hill was broadcast in October 2007 on BBC Four in two episodes. Fanny Hill tells the story of a young country girl who is lured into prostitution in 18th-century London.
Events from the year 1749 in Great Britain.
Benjamin Dearborn (1754–1838) was a printer and mechanical inventor in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His inventions include the gold standard balance, spring scale, grist mill, candlestick, ballot box, perspective drawing machine, letter-press, "musical board for the instruction of the blind," thermoscope, vibrating steelyard balance, and perpendicular lift.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions is a proverb or aphorism. An alternative form is "Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works".
Jacob Abbot Cummings (1773–1820) was a bookseller, publisher, schoolteacher and author in Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 19th-century.
Benjamin Guild (1749-1792) was a bookseller in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 18th century. He ran the "Boston Book Store" and a circulating subscription library in the 1780s and 1790s at no.59 Cornhill, "first door south of the Old-Brick Meeting-House."
"With flying colours" is a popular idiom of the English language that is used to describe how well someone has completed a task. For example, a common use of the phrase is to refer to someone having passed a test or other examination "with flying colours," i.e. passed the test easily or with an exceptionally high score. The phrase originated in the Age of Discovery, when ships would return to port with their flags ("colours") either raised or lowered to signify that the ship had either been successful or defeated, with raised flags indicating success and lowered flags indicating defeat. Thus, "with flying colours" literally means that someone has completed a task, although idiomatically connotes particular success in that task.
Columbo or Lieutenant Columbo is the main character in the American detective crime drama television series Columbo created by Richard Levinson and William Link. The character is a shrewd but inelegant blue-collar homicide detective whose trademarks include his shambling manner, rumpled beige raincoat, cigar and off-putting, relentless investigative approach.
