KNOW THE ROPES ORIGIN

KNOW THE ROPES
A pretty straightforward one this. The phrase commonly used to describe someone as knowing his job or being skilled at something is derived from seasoned seamen. The first thing that sailors were taught at sea was how to deal with rigging. They would be shown the various knots etc. This was called learning the ropes. Hence when a sailor was accustomed to the business of rigging he was said to ‘know the ropes’.
Simples x