Meaning
May you enjoy good luck and favourable conditions for a long time. Traditional toast or farewell; now also used ceremonially Regional use: Newfoundland and Labrador, with related Atlantic Canadian awareness.
Origin
A Newfoundland good wish based on schooner sailing. A jib that continues to draw is filled effectively by the wind, helping the vessel make way and handle difficulty. The Dictionary of Newfoundland English records the phrase in 1937 as a salutation offered with a drink of Jamaica rum and explains the nautical image. It later became part of some screech-in ceremonies, but those ceremonies did not create it.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- and long may your big jib draw
- deed I is, me old cock, and long may your big jib draw
Usage Examples
- The skipper raised his glass: long may your big jib draw.
- You have a new boat and a fair forecast; long may your big jib draw.