Hacker News Reader

> by setting sail in an 846-pound pumpkin

Is it correct to say "setting sail" when there's no sail being set? I did't think so, but it should be safe to say the editors at Smithsonian are pretty good.

View on HN

Yes it's correct. Setting sail is an idiom.

See also: sailors and sailings. Not idioms, but nouns that don’t imply a particular form of propulsion.

"After numerous pints of Guinness he left the pub and set sail for home even though he was certainly three sheets to the wind" sounds reasonable to my ear.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com