Topic summary
Yardarm
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Yard (sailing).
"Sun over the yardarm"
The phrase "sun over the yardarm" is used, both afloat and ashore, to indicate that the time of day has been reached at which it is acceptable, variously, to have lunch or (more commonly) an alcoholic beverage. In modern parlance, the latter usage typically refers to early evening, but the phrase is thought originally to have referred to late morning and to the sun's ascent past a particular yard.