This page goes over the origin and meaning of a specific cliche.
Three Sheets to the Wind
Origin:
This cliché originated from 18th-19th century English Naval language. The original saying was, ‘three sheets in the wind’ and referred to the unpredictable performance of a ship that had lost control of all of its three sails. The word sheet is the nautical word for the ropes that were used to adjust the position of the sails in relation to the wind. When the sheets were broken or the sailors lost control of them, they were said to be ‘in the wind’. If the sheets on all three masts were ‘in the wind’, the sailors lost all ability to steer the ship.
Meaning of Cliché:
The phrase “three sheets to the wind” was one that sailors also began to use when referring to someone who was drunk or highly intoxicated. This was because a person’s wobbling and stumbling while drunk was likened to the ship’s lack of control when the sheets on all three masts were unusable.