ANCHORS AWEIGH ORIGIN

ANCHORS AWEIGH
Often misspelt ‘anchors away’ the term used when setting off on a journey or voyage does not mean getting away from the anchor. It is derived from the phrase ‘weigh anchor’ which refers to placing an anchor’s weight on the rope of chain. Sailors were fond of adding ‘a’ to words – afloat, aboard, ashore, aground, adrift etc. The word aweigh was simply a continuation of the custom.