a sailor’s tale

a story or tale that is not easily believable or seems far-fetched to some. a sailor’s tale can only be proven true by evidence, or by being seen. a sailor’s tale may or may not be a lie, but it also may be the truth.

this definition is derived directly from the tale moby d-ck written by herman melville who writes about a giant white whale that attacks ships. to some, this is a sailor’s tale because some people may or may not believe it. this definition is also derived from the 12 century norwegian tale of a giant squid called the kraken that would also attack ships and would sink them and doom the crew.
“… and it was a huge rocket in the sky! i could see it!” johnny excitedly exclaimed to his friends, finishing his story. but his friends said he was telling a sailor’s tale and walked away without any further interest. johnny was sad.

“but mr. mathers, my dog ate my homework! i swear” little bobby told the teacher. but his teacher didn’t believed him and gave him an f and said it was a sailor’s tale. little bobby’s brother even tried to explain to the teacher it wasn’t a lie, but the teacher didn’t believe him either.

“i seen a ufo in the sky yesterday” a local told the audience in the microphone at a community meeting in the local historic board house. but some of them didn’t believe him and whispered to each other that he was telling a sailor’s tale and no one raised their hand to speak about it or to talk on it.

no other further word was spoken about ufo’s that night, only community concerns about littering. the man who told the ufo story left early and snuck out of embarr-ssment while everyone was eyes-front and openly busy talking about the littering situation, not paying attention to him.