THE CAT'S PAJAMAS XXVI

Tad Tuleja

 

A collection of the (mostly) true origins of familiar phrases 

HIJACK

During the heyday of British piracy in the Caribbean, many buccaneers were supported by the crown. Not all, however, were so fortunate, and the poorer relations of such superstars as Sir Francis Drake had to resort to unconventional methods to reap the rewards others reaped  by direct attack. One such method was to send young girls - the daughters of the pirates themselves - to commandeer anchored Spanish vessels. Typically, the girls would board a ship under the pretext of selling the crew food. Two or three would conceal themselves below decks while the others occupied the men. When night fell, the hidden ones would emerge, surprise and knock out the night watch, and send rope ladders over the side for their fathers. The pirates would then sail the vessel out of port, often with the captain kept as hostage, and seldom with a shot being fired.

 

To the Spanish, this insidious tactic became known contemptuously as hijarismo, from the word hija, meaning "daughter." The phrase nos hijaron ("they daughtered us") appeared frequently in letters. Through misreading and imperfect Spanish, the phrase devolved into nos hijaced. Probably, because this last misreading closely approximated English syntax, many pirates adopted it as a kind of epithet, and began referring to themselves as "hijacers."