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You are here: Home / Language / What does the expression “to back and fill” mean and Where does it come from?

What does the expression “to back and fill” mean and Where does it come from?

May 24, 2020 by Karen Hill

The expression “to back and fill” means to shilly-shally; to be vacillating or irresolute; to assert and deny, hem and haw; not to know if one is on one’s head or heels.

Originally this was said of ships, of sailing ships especially, attempting to negotiate a narrow channel when wind and tide were adverse and there was no room for tacking.

Under such conditions a vessel may be worked to windward by keeping it broadside on to the current in mid-channel by counter-bracing the yards or keeping the sails shivering, that is, alternately backing and filling the sails.

The progress of the ship is thus alternately backward and forward, in herringbone pattern; hence, anything that appears to do nothing more than to recede and advance, to vacillate, is said to back and fill.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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