Keep her on the deck

Question

Let me ask a question about the follwoing sentence from a novel.

Keep her on the deck, he told himself. Play the game by the rules you've practiced out. (p175, T.Clancy)
Context: He is a pilot of F19-A which is going toward the enemy's target, flying low not to be detected by rader's searches.

Question: Meaning of Keep her on the deck
My dictionary says that on the deck means on the ground. But it doesn't feel proper here.
"on deck" is listed as meaning "in readiness," but not on the deck. "Keep her on deck" could mean "keep his F19-A ready well to hit the target when he does". But I couldn't be sure.
I'd appreciate your word on this point.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Keep her on the deck, he told himself. Play the game by the rules you've practiced out. (p175, T.Clancy) Context: ... on the deck My dictionary says that on the deck means on the ground. But it doesn't feel proper here.[/nq]
Here it just means very close to the ground. If you like, you can imagine that there is a barrier at certain height very close to the ground, because if the pilot flies lower, he will probably crash into the next little hill. You can think of the imaginary barrier as "the deck". Did you ever see the movie "Top Gun"? In a training exercise, the pilots spoke of a "hard deck" at 10,000 feet (about 3 km) above ground, meaning that they were not allowed to fly below that imaginary barrier. Same idea.
In the sentence from the book, you could also consider "the deck" to mean the ground, and the use of "on" as an exaggeration, really meaning "nearly on". The meaning works out the same either way.

I'd like to point out that when you give a page number, it is usual to give the title of the book. Tom Clancy is the author of many books, and we have no idea which one you are reading. In a more formal context you would give more information, since page numbers may vary in different editions, but at least you should give the title if you mean the information to help anybody.
Mark Brader, Toronto > "I asked you for a good reason, (Email Removed) > not a terrific one!" Maxwell Smart (Agent 86)

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Let me ask a question about the follwoing sentence from a novel. Keep her on the deck, he told himself. ... well to hit the target when he does". But I couldn't be sure. I'd appreciate your word on this point.[/nq]
Clearly, in the context of ships, the deck is not literally ground (earth) but the floor, particularly the main level that covers all the lower ones and is open to the sky. The flight deck would be where the planes take off and land on an aircraft carrier. A plane on the deck is ready (or nearly ready) to take off, as opposed to being stored below deck. My hunch that this is such a literal expression that it doesn't matter whether the speaker says a plane is "on deck" or "on the deck" they would mean the same thing, the location of the plane.

You don't give enough context, really, for me to know how he is applying this metaphorically, but my guess is that, in this case, the speaker doesn't want to scare the woman away, he wants to keep her engaged in conversation. If it was a fishing metaphor, it would be to reel the fish in slowly.

Best - Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Let me ask a question about the follwoing sentence from a novel. Keep her on the deck\, he told himself. ... well to hit the target when he does". But I couldn't be sure. I'd appreciate your word on this point.[/nq]
The pilot is using the analogy of a game he's practiced - so maybe Clancy means deck as in 'deck of cards'.
[nq:1]Keep her on the deck[/nq]
So a bit like "Keep her on the ball" 'her' being the plane..

Practiced out - yuk.
DCC

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]this is such a literal expression that it doesn't matter whether the speaker says a plane is "on deck" or "on the deck" they would mean the same thing, the location of the plane.[/nq]
The problem in the Tom Clancy example is
that ships have decks: but "on deck" is commonly
used elsewhere to mean "ready to act next."
In the sport of fencing, two competitors are on the piste (strip: fencing uses many French technical
terms) and the next two are on deck, i.e. ready
to compete as soon as the first pair finishes.
We should need earlier examples to find out
whether the sporting use of on deck had
anything to do with ships. "All hands on deck"
was the English naval command to a whole
crew to muster for orders.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Here it just means very close* to the ground. If you like, you can imagine that there is a barrier ... and the use of "on" as an *exaggeration, really meaning "nearly on". The meaning works out the same either way.[/nq]
Thanks. Your explanation is quite clear. I got it well. If it said" nearly over the deck," I might have grasped its meaning properly.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Keep her on the deck[/nq]
[nq:1]So a bit like "Keep her on the ball" 'her' being the plane..[/nq]
"On the ball" has a very specific meaning in the context of aircraft carrier landings. The "meatball" is an array of differently colored lights arranged on the carrier deck so that when the pilot is correctly oriented for landing, a yellow and green light appear to the pilot in alignment. A pilot who is "on the ball" has achieved this correct orientation.
I don't know whether this is the historical origin of the phrase used in its more general sense.

Mike Nitabach

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Context: He is a pilot of F19-A which is going ... means on the ground. But it doesn't feel proper here.[/nq]
[nq:1]Clearly, in the context of ships, the deck is not literally ground (earth) but the floor, particularly the main level ... keep her engaged in conversation. If it was a fishing metaphor, it would be to reel the fish in slowly.[/nq]
I feel appreciative of your reply each time I get it, and this time, too. Context here is that the speaker is at this moment flying his jet-fighter, low enough not to be detected by the enemy's rader search. "her" means his aircraft, that's quite obvious.
Therefore, no room for metaphor like you pointed out.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Here it just means very close to the ground. If you like, you can imagine that there is a barrier ... feet (about 3 km) above ground, meaning that they were not allowed to fly below that imaginary barrier. Same idea.[/nq]
This interpretation is quite interesting.
Deck in this meaning above must be a jargon among air-force pilots, I guess.
The dictionaries I looked into, therefore, don't see this meaning.

Thanks for your valuable tip.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]So a bit like "Keep her on the ball" 'her' being the plane...[/nq]
[nq:1]"On the ball" has a very specific meaning in the context of aircraft carrier landings. The "meatball" is an array ... correct orientation. I don't know whether this is the historical origin of the phrase used in its more general sense.[/nq]
By one of those bizarre coincidence I caught a Discovery channel prog about Aircraft carriers yesterday discussing this very technique, having got through the last 4 1/2 decades without knowing about it...

In the UK 'on the ball' is, I would have thought, considered a term from soccer - it's the player who has the ball at any one particular moment and by extension someone who's 'on the ball' is in control of the situation, understands what's going on, etc. There was also a TV football show sometime in the 70s or 80s called 'on The Ball'.
DCC

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]this is such a literal expression that it doesn't matter ... would mean the same thing, the location of the plane.[/nq]
[nq:1]The problem in the Tom Clancy example is that ships have decks: but "on deck" is commonly used elsewhere to ... technical terms) and the next two are on deck, i.e. ready to compete as soon as the first pair finishes.[/nq]
Did fencers borrow the term from baseball perhaps? (See below.)
[nq:1]We should need earlier examples to find out whether the sporting use of on deck had anything to do with ships.[/nq]
The OED seems to imply that it does. Under sense 2 of "deck" (the nautical sense), one finds:
2c. In phrases, as above deck (also fig.), BETWEEN-DECKS, on deck , under deck(s ; to clear, sweep the decks (see CLEAR v., SWEEP v.).
on deck fig. (orig. U.S.): at hand; ready for action; alive; in Baseball, next at the bat, with the right or privilege of batting next.
1867 Ball Players' Chron. 26 Sept. 5/4 Well, I went on deckand took up a bat.

1889 'MARK TWAIN' Yankee xxii. 274 Angels..are always ondeck when there is a miracle to the fore.

1889 Lisbon (Dakota) Star 26 Apr. 4/2 A. H. Moore..waskicked by a horse, a cow and a colt.., but is still on deck.
1946 K. TENNANT Lost Haven (1968) xix. 346, I couldn't bringit (sc. oakum) up here if Jame was on deck. She'd be down on me like a ton of lead. 1950 Here & Now (N.Z.) Dec. 12/1 If I am on deck when that time comes you will have a strong advocate for reinstatement in the service.

1966 Times 28 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) p. x/4 Dice games andthree-card monte are not, so to speak, on deck but bingo flourishes.
But sense 3e is more relevant to Clancy's usage:
3e. Aeronaut. slang. The ground; spec. the landing-ground of an aerodrome.
1925 Punch 11 Nov. 521 R.A.F. Officer (unhorsed). Oh, hejust stalled on top of the loop, did a roll and left me hangin' on the straps; then spun into the deck.

1941 War Illustr. 29 Aug. 93/1, I didn't see the bombsdrop, but Mac, the rear-gunner, yelled over the inter-comm in a broad Scots accent 'There's one on the deck.'
1958 'N. SHUTE' Rainbow & Rose vii. 276 She spun her Mothinto the deck.

Keep her on the deck

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