Talk:Hello, sailor

Mysterious? Nonsense! Anyone over the age of 12 knows what "hello, sailor" means, and it's not the first or second of your "possible origins." --Russ Blau (talk) 10:50, 27 April 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't. What does it mean? --130.89.163.94 22:13, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I thought it was a common greeting said by prostitutes to Sailors as they came into dock. --Burbster 19:35, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I think it's much more common in the UK than the US. I only know it from watching Monty Python, where it popped up a lot.  KarlM 00:54, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Bottom line is that this is a tagline that's used (however obscure) in nearly all Zork games in one form or another. Since this page refers to that game and said game has had multiple iterations, this has validity for existence.  Aspect Of Shadows 18:31, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

I and others at Burroughs Machines in the 1970s used the "hello sailor number" of a programming language as an indication of the language's verbosity. The HSN was the number of significant characters required to display "Hello Sailor" on the terminal. eg: Basic = PRINT "HELLO SAILOR" = 19 (the space between 'print' and '"' is not required)

I've continued to use it in preference to the upstart 'Hello World' ever since.

Bobstammers 20:34, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Zork relevance vs. general relevance
A recent edit made the article much more Zork-centered by placing the general statement down at the bottom. I think that this phrase has far more cultural relevance outside of the Zork games. Sure, it's a running gag in the games, but the phrase is far more widely known among people who have never even heard of, let alone played them. Rather than just revert it, I thought I'd let others discuss, but it just seems to me that the Zork portion of this article should be toned down a bit. I also think the Zork sidebar really doesn't need to be there, it's just a running gag in the games, not a major game-element. If anything, the Zork stuff should be in a separate lower sub-section, rather than the general reference. Lurlock 04:53, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree. Zork should be relegated to a "popular culture" section at the bottom of the article. The phrase is used in at least three episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus, for example, which is considerably more famous (and several years older) than Zork. I actually came to this page looking for information on the history of the phrase itself, and the first recorded use. Can anyone help with this? Mtford 21:41, 27 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I rearranged it, but can't help on the documentation front. If you have a citation to give for its use in Monty Python, find an appropriate way to add it; currently it's only obliquely connected, through the mention of Idle's book.Lawikitejana (talk) 20:31, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Unsure if it has any relevance but I think I saw a pic where Amy Winehouse has a tattoo with this phrase on her belly.92.81.73.3 (talk) 19:53, 20 March 2009 (UTC)