swabber

   In A Dictionary of Sailors’ Slang, Wilfred Granville lists ‘swab’ as ‘a term of opprobrium for a useless seaman’. He adds the explanation ‘because he is as wet as one’, i.e. as wet as the mop which is used by a swabber to clean the decks. It was sailors of very low rank who were normally given this task, and the behaviour of such men when ashore led to ‘swabber’ becoming a term for any contemptible man.

   It had this meaning in Shakespeare’s time, and is thus very curiously used in Twelfth Night (l:v). Maria says to Viola, who is disguised as a young man: ‘Will you hoist sail, sir? here lies your way.’

   There is no particular reason for this lapse into sea-faring metaphor, but it inspires Viola to reply: ‘No, good swabber; I am to hull here a little longer.’ The reference to hulling is to dirfting in the wind with the sails furled, which is correct enough, but the ‘swabber’ seems out the place.

   Shakespeare may be alluding to the literal meaning of ‘swabber’, one who clears the decks, and not to its slang meaning. Maria appears to be trying to remove him from the scene, as a swabber might try to remove something from the deck.