Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A ship that carried Irish
emigrants escaping the potatofamine , usually with an extremely highmortality rate onboard.
Etymologies
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Examples
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chained_bear commented on the word coffin ship
Applied to an old, ill-found, unseaworthy vessel, as likely to prove the burying-place of those on board.
Usage:
Did you work upon the railroad?
Did you rid the streets of crime?
Were your dollars from the white house,
Were they from the five and dime?
"Ah, no," says he, "'twas not to be--
On a coffin ship I came here,
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name."
--"Thousands Are Sailing," the Pogues, c. 1988 Phillip Chevron
February 7, 2007
hernesheir commented on the word coffin ship
One can't help thinking of the "coffin ships" bearing Irish potato famine immigrants to American shores in the mid 1800's.
July 12, 2010