Irish pennant

American  

noun

Nautical Slang: Sometimes Offensive.

1. an unwhipped rope end.

2. any strand or rope end left hanging untidily.

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Sensitive Note

Though no longer used as a deliberate slur, this term is sometimes perceived as insulting to or by the Irish. It originated in the Royal Navy in the 1800s, during the time of sailing ships.

Etymology

Origin of Irish pennant

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Suddenly, Bang, Bangity Bang! and a row of small mortars were fired off in succession, and a small boy with a banner in his hands, and an Irish pennant in his wake, appeared marching slowly along.

From Project Gutenberg

The cuddy breakfast was fairly under way, and a great clattering of cups and saucers, knives and forks, and the hum of lively conversation, accompanied by sundry savoury odours, came floating up through the open skylights, when the chief mate’s eye happened to be attracted toward a gasket, streaming loose like an Irish pennant from the fore topgallant yard, and he sang out to one of the ordinary seamen to jump aloft and put it right.

From Project Gutenberg