"When my ship comes in"?
June 18, 2013 4:08 AM Subscribe
The 1983 Billy Joel song "Uptown Girl" has the line "But maybe someday when my ship comes in / she'll understand what kind of guy I am / and then I'll win." It just occurred to me that, though I'm in my thirties, I don't think I've ever heard the expression "when my ship comes in" used by anyone but Billy Joel. Has this ever been a commonly-used expression? If so, does anyone still use it? And what the heck does it even mean? I mean, I can tell what it figuratively means, from the context. But what is the connection between a ship arriving and someone becoming successful?
In the 1970's, the BBC made a drama series "When the boat comes in". The title was taken from the folk song of the same name. The implication was that when the (fishing) boat came in:
- there would be food on it for the locals to eat
- the food could be sold to make a profit, wages, money
- the fishermen or sailors on it would have their wages, and they would be on land to spend them
posted by Wordshore at 4:14 AM on June 18, 2013
- there would be food on it for the locals to eat
- the food could be sold to make a profit, wages, money
- the fishermen or sailors on it would have their wages, and they would be on land to spend them
posted by Wordshore at 4:14 AM on June 18, 2013
It's a common expression, "waiting for the day your ship will come in" as corb explains. It's in the lyrics of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5".
posted by Melismata at 4:17 AM on June 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 4:17 AM on June 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
I had a teacher who said it often in the eighties.
The American Heritage dictionary of Idioms says:
"when one's ship comes in
When one has made one's fortune, as in When my ship comes in I'll get a Mercedes or better. This term alludes to ships returning from far-off places with a cargo of valuables. It may be obsolescent. [Mid-1800s]"
posted by logonym at 4:27 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
The American Heritage dictionary of Idioms says:
"when one's ship comes in
When one has made one's fortune, as in When my ship comes in I'll get a Mercedes or better. This term alludes to ships returning from far-off places with a cargo of valuables. It may be obsolescent. [Mid-1800s]"
posted by logonym at 4:27 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
When the ship comes in by Bob Dylan is also relevant (and the greatest song inspired by a surly hotel clerk ever).
posted by Dr Dracator at 4:34 AM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Dr Dracator at 4:34 AM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
Metaphor also appears in "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin" by Colin Hay.
posted by chaiminda at 4:36 AM on June 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by chaiminda at 4:36 AM on June 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
Anecdotally, I'm in my early thirties, and I've heard this expression a lot. I've heard it in both a "waiting for a long-anticipated return on an investment" and a "waiting to get a break but not doing much active fortune-seeking in the meantime" sense.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:47 AM on June 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:47 AM on June 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
I'm mid 40s and would consider 'When my ship comes in" to be a very common phrase. I've heard it my entire life.
posted by COD at 4:48 AM on June 18, 2013 [16 favorites]
posted by COD at 4:48 AM on June 18, 2013 [16 favorites]
It dates back at least to Shakespeare, in The Merchant of Venice. "Come on: in this there can be no dismay; My ships come home a month before the day". (Act 1, Scene 3)
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:53 AM on June 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:53 AM on June 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Jill Sobule has another musical reference: When My Ship Comes In
I'd also consider this an extremely common phrase, to the point of it being a cliché.
posted by mikepop at 4:57 AM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'd also consider this an extremely common phrase, to the point of it being a cliché.
posted by mikepop at 4:57 AM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
No Doubt's Hey You: "I know you're waiting for your ship to come in. You anxiously wait for such a long time."
posted by knile at 5:01 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by knile at 5:01 AM on June 18, 2013
Just for other music references:
Sheryl Crow's "Leaving Las Vegas:
I'm standing in the middle of the desert
Waiting for my ship to come in
But now no joker, no jack, no king
Can take this loser hand
And make it win
Clint Black's "When My Ship Comes In."
Jill Sobule's "When My Ship Comes In."
And Stiltskin.
Bob Dylan, too.
Eddie Cantor if you want to go back even further.
And I'm sure tons more. But Billy Joel is hardly the only one to use this image/saying in his songs. It's a pretty popular image.
posted by zizzle at 5:02 AM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
Sheryl Crow's "Leaving Las Vegas:
I'm standing in the middle of the desert
Waiting for my ship to come in
But now no joker, no jack, no king
Can take this loser hand
And make it win
Clint Black's "When My Ship Comes In."
Jill Sobule's "When My Ship Comes In."
And Stiltskin.
Bob Dylan, too.
Eddie Cantor if you want to go back even further.
And I'm sure tons more. But Billy Joel is hardly the only one to use this image/saying in his songs. It's a pretty popular image.
posted by zizzle at 5:02 AM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
(Just for reference, uses of "when my ship comes in" v. "his ship came in" in Google Books locate the phrase as declining in popularity.)
posted by RJ Reynolds at 5:07 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by RJ Reynolds at 5:07 AM on June 18, 2013
Fascinating! I thought immediately of The Merchant of Venice and Beauty and the Beast as well.
According to the nGram viewer, peak "when my ship comes in" was 1920.
(on preview- pipped!)
posted by Erasmouse at 5:08 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
According to the nGram viewer, peak "when my ship comes in" was 1920.
(on preview- pipped!)
posted by Erasmouse at 5:08 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I couldn't tell you the last time (or even if ever, I guess) I heard someone use it in day-to-day speech, but I've certainly known it as an idiom since I was a kid. (late 30s, Australia)
posted by russm at 5:09 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by russm at 5:09 AM on June 18, 2013
I've definitely heard the phrase, and, yeah, I'd assumed it had to do with having, say, an investment in a shipping business or somesuch — the arrival of cargo, or profits from selling cargo, could be a major windfall.
Apropos of references in music, which this thread has devolved into, there's also Brian Wilson's "Sail Away", and for a particularly macabre take on good fortune arriving with a ship, there's Kurt Weill's "Seeräuber-Jenny".
posted by jackbishop at 5:11 AM on June 18, 2013
Apropos of references in music, which this thread has devolved into, there's also Brian Wilson's "Sail Away", and for a particularly macabre take on good fortune arriving with a ship, there's Kurt Weill's "Seeräuber-Jenny".
posted by jackbishop at 5:11 AM on June 18, 2013
Oh, right, explanation. Antonio borrows 3000 ducats from Shylock, due in 3 months. If he doesn't pay, Shylock has the right to take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Antonio is not worried, because his 3 ships are going to come in in 1 month, so plenty of time.
3 months later, Antonio's ships are lost, and the loan is due. Shylock specifies that the pound of flesh should be Antonio's heart. Hilarity ensues, then the ships come in.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:12 AM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
3 months later, Antonio's ships are lost, and the loan is due. Shylock specifies that the pound of flesh should be Antonio's heart. Hilarity ensues, then the ships come in.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:12 AM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
Nthing the "yes its common" crowd and from my experiences its a little colloquial... Time period around 70's-80's is when it became less prevalent anecdotally.
posted by chasles at 5:43 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by chasles at 5:43 AM on June 18, 2013
I have heard this expression before. Incidentally, I was surprised to learn, in the one course on business law that I ever studied, that there is a LOT of legal precedent built around the questions of who owns the cargo while the ship is at sea for extended periods of time, and who owns the payment for the cargo while the ship is returning for extended periods of time.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:47 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:47 AM on June 18, 2013
"'Cause I keep waitin' for my ship to come in
But all that ever come is the tide..."
- Jim Croce "Hard Time Losin' Man"
posted by randomkeystrike at 5:48 AM on June 18, 2013
But all that ever come is the tide..."
- Jim Croce "Hard Time Losin' Man"
posted by randomkeystrike at 5:48 AM on June 18, 2013
I don't think I've ever heard the expression "when my ship comes in" used by anyone but Billy Joel.
It's not very contemporary, but it is an established idiom.
posted by spaltavian at 5:51 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's not very contemporary, but it is an established idiom.
posted by spaltavian at 5:51 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
We used this phrase constantly when I was growing up. It became, "When our ship comes in, we'll be at the airport", so there's an update for you.
posted by effluvia at 6:09 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by effluvia at 6:09 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
and for a particularly macabre take on good fortune arriving with a ship, there's Kurt Weill's "Seeräuber-Jenny".
Also from Weill: "J'attends un navire" and "My Ship."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:10 AM on June 18, 2013
Also from Weill: "J'attends un navire" and "My Ship."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:10 AM on June 18, 2013
Elvis Costellos's song "Shipbuilding" does not mention the "ship comes in" concept explicitly - but it is all about the notion of how ships can bring a trade of of bounty and heartbreak for communities who are invested in both making and then going to war on them.
posted by rongorongo at 6:26 AM on June 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 6:26 AM on June 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Just to add to the pile: I'm in my late 50s, and have heard this all my life, from people young and old and all over the US. I'd have called it an *extremely* common phrase, to the extent that I'm shocked to the "where have you been all your life?!?" level at your not having heard it before.
posted by easily confused at 7:10 AM on June 18, 2013 [12 favorites]
posted by easily confused at 7:10 AM on June 18, 2013 [12 favorites]
If you were a merchant in the age of sail and you owned a ship, you would spend money at the beginning of the voyage: on trade goods, fitting out the ship, hiring crew, port taxes, etc. You would not see a return on that investment for around a year.
In the meanwhile, you might (as Antonio in The Merchant of Venice does) go into debt and live on credit. Unless you were wealthy enough to own more than one ship, so that returns were coming in more often, your fortune literally depended on whether your ship came in so you could recoup your original investment (to reinvest in your next voyage), pay off your debts and hopefully have enough left over to live on for a while-- not to mention pay for the kids' schooling, dower your daughters, get everyone new outfits, get the house fixed up, pay your guild dues, get a portrait done, bribe the right politicians... and so on.
If your ship does not come in (as Antonio's do not)-- whether owing to storms, shoals, shipworms, pirates, sickness, mutiny, revolution in the country you were trading to-- you may very well be bankrupt.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:40 AM on June 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
In the meanwhile, you might (as Antonio in The Merchant of Venice does) go into debt and live on credit. Unless you were wealthy enough to own more than one ship, so that returns were coming in more often, your fortune literally depended on whether your ship came in so you could recoup your original investment (to reinvest in your next voyage), pay off your debts and hopefully have enough left over to live on for a while-- not to mention pay for the kids' schooling, dower your daughters, get everyone new outfits, get the house fixed up, pay your guild dues, get a portrait done, bribe the right politicians... and so on.
If your ship does not come in (as Antonio's do not)-- whether owing to storms, shoals, shipworms, pirates, sickness, mutiny, revolution in the country you were trading to-- you may very well be bankrupt.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:40 AM on June 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
My parents use this expression constantly. I grew up with it. I'm 42, they're in their 60s.
posted by Miko at 7:40 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by Miko at 7:40 AM on June 18, 2013
I'm mid-fifties. My ex proposed to me by saying, "thinkpiece, your ship has come in!"
That, unfortunately, was not true.
posted by thinkpiece at 8:09 AM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
That, unfortunately, was not true.
posted by thinkpiece at 8:09 AM on June 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
"In this beautiful life, but there's always some sorrow
It's a double-edged knife, but there's always tomorrow
It's up to you now if you sink or swim,
Just keep the faith that your ship will come in."
-Great Big Sea, Ordinary Day
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:03 AM on June 18, 2013
It's a double-edged knife, but there's always tomorrow
It's up to you now if you sink or swim,
Just keep the faith that your ship will come in."
-Great Big Sea, Ordinary Day
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:03 AM on June 18, 2013
The first sentence of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is:
"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board."
I had heard the phrase "when your ship comes in" before, but that line seared into my brain when we read the book in high school. I think it explains better than anything else I've read all the hope and desperation that phrase can contain.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 9:40 AM on June 18, 2013
"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board."
I had heard the phrase "when your ship comes in" before, but that line seared into my brain when we read the book in high school. I think it explains better than anything else I've read all the hope and desperation that phrase can contain.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 9:40 AM on June 18, 2013
Extended quote:
"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."
- Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 9:41 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."
- Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 9:41 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Another song: Shrimp Boats;
some lyrics:
Shrimp boats is a-comin'
Their sails are in sight
Shrimp boats is a-comin'
There's dancin' tonight
Why don't-cha hurry, hurry, hurry home
Why don't-cha hurry, hurry, hurry home
Look here! The shrimp boats is a-comin'
There's dancin' tonight
posted by mean square error at 10:04 AM on June 18, 2013
some lyrics:
Shrimp boats is a-comin'
Their sails are in sight
Shrimp boats is a-comin'
There's dancin' tonight
Why don't-cha hurry, hurry, hurry home
Why don't-cha hurry, hurry, hurry home
Look here! The shrimp boats is a-comin'
There's dancin' tonight
posted by mean square error at 10:04 AM on June 18, 2013
We've got this far without the Walker Brothers' "My Ship Is Coming In"?
posted by vickyverky at 10:39 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by vickyverky at 10:39 AM on June 18, 2013
I'm 26 and I've definitely heard it before. It's when you have less than the people around you and you're waiting and hoping for your good luck to finally come. Because their "ships", full of goods and money, have already arrived, basically. You could say "when my luck comes in" or something.
posted by windykites at 10:43 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by windykites at 10:43 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also, it's in the book "the five little peppers and how they grew", which is most certainly not a modern book but which got me through a lot as a kid.
posted by windykites at 10:46 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by windykites at 10:46 AM on June 18, 2013
Plus there was that episode of Star Trek when Jack London said his ship was coming in and Data was impressed that a bellboy owned a ship.
posted by ckape at 11:11 AM on June 18, 2013
posted by ckape at 11:11 AM on June 18, 2013
Also the folk song Dance for your Daddy:
"You shall have a fishy on a little dishy,
You shall have a fishy
When the boat comes in"
posted by Dorothea_in_Rome at 11:37 AM on June 18, 2013
"You shall have a fishy on a little dishy,
You shall have a fishy
When the boat comes in"
posted by Dorothea_in_Rome at 11:37 AM on June 18, 2013
Just to throw another musical allusion on the stack: Mr. Horizon by Little Jack Melody.
The afternoon that my ship came in
I sent him on his way
If I'm not watching, what the hell is he for?
Mr. Horizon is having a very bad day.
posted by cirocco at 12:07 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
The afternoon that my ship came in
I sent him on his way
If I'm not watching, what the hell is he for?
Mr. Horizon is having a very bad day.
posted by cirocco at 12:07 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Late 40s and baffled that anyone could go through life never having heard this expression from anyone but Billy Joel. To me this is an extremely commonplace expression.
posted by HotToddy at 12:34 PM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by HotToddy at 12:34 PM on June 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
This just in: Billy Joel also not the originator of the phrase "glass houses"....
I don't know when I last heard the ships-come-in phrase spoken, but it's definitely an established idiom and I'm really surprised you've never even read it anywhere.
Betty Boop.
posted by dhartung at 1:11 PM on June 18, 2013
I don't know when I last heard the ships-come-in phrase spoken, but it's definitely an established idiom and I'm really surprised you've never even read it anywhere.
Betty Boop.
posted by dhartung at 1:11 PM on June 18, 2013
I would consider that a reasonably common idiom. I'm amazed you've never heard it elsewhere.
I also feel compelled to quote song lyrics featuring it:
Bif Naked, Any Day Now, refrain
Any day now, mark my word
Any day now, I will be heard
Any day now, my ship
Will finally come in
posted by timepiece at 1:20 PM on June 18, 2013
I also feel compelled to quote song lyrics featuring it:
Bif Naked, Any Day Now, refrain
Any day now, mark my word
Any day now, I will be heard
Any day now, my ship
Will finally come in
posted by timepiece at 1:20 PM on June 18, 2013
Stopped in to quote Little Jack Melody, and totally psyched to see someone else do it.
So I'll go lowbrow with Caddyshack instead: "It's easy to grin when your ship comes in, and you've got the stock market beat. But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile when his shorts are too tight in the seat."
posted by The Bellman at 3:01 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
So I'll go lowbrow with Caddyshack instead: "It's easy to grin when your ship comes in, and you've got the stock market beat. But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile when his shorts are too tight in the seat."
posted by The Bellman at 3:01 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's a bit like, as above, "when my luck comes in," but what's really happening is that your fortune is in limbo for a time, ship at sea as it were, and as the ship arrives, the uncertainty about your fortune is gone.
posted by Sunburnt at 3:23 PM on June 18, 2013
posted by Sunburnt at 3:23 PM on June 18, 2013
The words to the song Wordshore referenced, which is a widely known Tyneside folksong:
Dance to thi daddy my little laddy
Dance to thi daddy my little man
Thoo shall hev a fishy
In a little dishy
Thoo shall hev a fishy
When the boat comes in.
(See thy mammy comen
She's a funny woman
See thy mammy comen
Doon the coaly Tyne)
Dance to thi daddy etc.
posted by glasseyes at 5:25 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Dance to thi daddy my little laddy
Dance to thi daddy my little man
Thoo shall hev a fishy
In a little dishy
Thoo shall hev a fishy
When the boat comes in.
(See thy mammy comen
She's a funny woman
See thy mammy comen
Doon the coaly Tyne)
Dance to thi daddy etc.
posted by glasseyes at 5:25 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm 52 and I've heard the expression all my life. My parents used it, of course, and many others. And I've heard that Clint Black song so many times that there are days, bad days, depressing annoying days, that I start singing to myself, "...when my shit comes in."
posted by Robert Angelo at 6:02 PM on June 18, 2013
posted by Robert Angelo at 6:02 PM on June 18, 2013
Anectdata: I'm 39 years old, and I use this expression.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:03 PM on June 18, 2013
posted by Chrysostom at 8:03 PM on June 18, 2013
Just to throw one of my favorite renderings of the idiom onto the pile... Sarah Vaughn - My Ship
posted by missmobtown at 11:17 PM on June 18, 2013
posted by missmobtown at 11:17 PM on June 18, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
In some tellings of Beauty and the Beast, the reason for the father to journey is that a ship of his has come in, and there may be money to restore him to his position.
posted by corb at 4:11 AM on June 18, 2013 [9 favorites]