Literary notes about tack (AI summary)
The word "tack" is used in literature in a variety of contexts that highlight both its literal and metaphorical meanings. In nautical narratives, it frequently denotes a ship’s change in course, emphasizing the maneuverability and strategy of seafaring, as when a vessel alters its direction or adjusts its sails ([1], [2], [3], [4]). At the same time, authors exploit its figurative sense to indicate a shift in attitude or approach, as seen when characters are said to be “on the wrong tack” or change their method of thinking ([5], [6], [7]). Beyond navigation and strategy, "tack" also appears in more concrete settings to describe the act of fastening or affixing, whether it is securing fabric or even an object to a surface ([8], [9], [10]). This multifaceted use enriches the language, allowing a single word to convey ideas of directional change, attachment, and even playful rhythmic repetition ([11], [12]).
- She was on the starboard tack, and on the left hand, under the arched foot of the foresail, I could see the sunset still quite bright.
— from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson - When the watch came up, we wore ship, and stood on the other tack, in towards land.
— from Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana - So doing, the battle engaged all along the line on the port tack, the English to leeward.
— from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. Mahan - When they were within easy range, the French hauled their wind on the same tack, keeping the weather-gage.
— from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. Mahan - “I don’t feel grave, that’s all I can say; you’re going quite on the wrong tack.”
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster - I wonder if he did find anything in that safe——” Tuppence’s meditations went off on another tack.
— from The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie - When he found he could not secure my attention for the school course, he gave up the attempt as hopeless and went on a different tack.
— from My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore - Nothing—it was a tack in the chair-seat,” said one.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain - If there is a rip of any sort, she says: "I think there is a thread loose, I'll just tack it.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - The curtain at the window had been pulled by a heavy hand and hung by one tack, dangling to and fro in the draft through the cracks at the sash.
— from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane - Here a nail, there a nail, Tick, tack, too.
— from Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes - Can he set a shoe?— Ay, marry, two, Here a nail, there a nail, Tick, tack, too.
— from The Nursery Rhymes of England
