"If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot."

June 5, 2007 9:27 PM

"If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot." I recently heard this expression somewhere and it's driving me nuts. Any idea where I might have heard it? I feel like it was in a movie, tv show, commercial, or maybe a video on YouTube. I have a vague recollection of an image of someone demonstrating the principle expressed in the quote.

I would be interested in any uses of or references to this phrase in popular culture. Also any insights into the origin of the phrase. This site claims it was the "motto of a representative of the Winslow Liferaft Company," but gives no explanation. The Winslow Liferaft Company still exists, but I can't find any mention of the phrase on their site.

I have a feeling that I heard this in some totally obvious place, but I have been wracking my brain trying to remember and it's not happening.

posted by bokinney to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

Google has 35 references to that quote... Here are the results.
posted by amyms at 10:32 PM on June 5, 2007

Response by poster: Yeah, unfortunately none of them are very helpful. That's how I found the reference to the Winslow Liferaft Company, but none of the other hits on Google turn up anything explaining where the phrase comes from or where it's been used.

Incidentally, this is a good example of how inaccurate Google's calculations are of the number of results it finds. The first page of results says "about 35," but if you click on the second page, it jumps down to 19, and the link to a third page disappears. If you click on the link to the third page from the first page, you are taken to the second page of results and the same thing happens. Interesting, but unfortunately not helpful. Thanks, though.
posted by bokinney at 10:54 PM on June 5, 2007

Similarly, searching on it in Google Groups produces a record of it back on Jan 5 1998, in the rec.crafts.knots group: [deeplink]

...the "if you can't tie a knot tie a lot" school of marlinespike seamanship.

There, the author was literally talking about knots, and I think it gives you an idea of where the phrase may have originated.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:56 PM on June 5, 2007

I hear it offshore all the time. Maybe that Oil, Sweat and Rigs documentary?
posted by atchafalaya at 8:33 AM on June 6, 2007

I have heard it as "If you can't tie good knots, tie lots of 'em."

Less catchy phrasing, but I heard it from my dad starting over 30 years ago.
posted by Miko at 11:46 AM on June 6, 2007