Why do ships use port and starboard?
Question
There's a nautical term that's always bothered me. Why are the sides called port and starboard.
Mark, Forest Hill
Answer
** Definitive **
Name: Adam
Qualification: Sailor and Medieval re-enactor
Answer: Cast your mind back many years to the time of the Viking and Egyptian boats. They didn't have rudders, but instead had something on the right-hand side called steerboard, a massive oar, which they pushed one way or the other to make it go left or right. You couldn't moor on the side of the boat with the steerboard on, as you would break it, so that always went on the outside. Therefore, the right was the steerboard-side and the left was port-side.