Recently I listened to a podcast which highlighted an AI’s ability to make stuff up – the person talking gave an example of a saying they just made up, then asked the AI for the origins of the saying. It came back with a comprehensive commentary about the origins and meaning of the saying which didn’t actually exist until the question was asked.
Prompted by that, I asked ChatGTP about the origins of my by-line “Life’s a reach and then you gybe.”, (you’ll see it on the bottom of my emails, and an alternative version “Life’s a user experience.” on my website. As far as I know, I made both up – but I know coincidences happen. ChatGPT came back with this answer.
“The earliest documented use of the phrase “Life’s a reach and then you gybe” appears on the YBW sailing forum, in a thread titled “Tee shirt tagline” initiated by user Salty John on February 20, 2008. In this thread, Salty John proposed several humorous sailing-themed slogans for T-shirts, with “Life’s a reach, then you gybe” listed as the first suggestion. This instance predates other known uses of the phrase, including its appearance in a 2014 blog post by Rene Fabre and its use as the title of a 2012 photography book by Sean Downey.”
I searched back through my life (i.e. my emails) as I thought I had used it earlier than that, and found an email in March 2007 that showed I had created a blog site on WordPress.com (yes, it’s still there) but never written anything in it. So, despite various claims to fame, I think I win.
The other interesting outcome was the commentary that ChatGPT also provided:
“The phrase is a nautical twist on the more widely known saying, “Life’s a bitch and then you die.” In sailing terminology, a “reach” refers to a point of sail where the wind comes from the side of the boat, allowing for smooth and efficient sailing. Conversely, a “gybe” (or “jibe”) is a manoeuvre where the boat turns its stern through the wind, causing the boom to swing across the boat—a move that can be sudden and requires careful handling. Thus, the phrase metaphorically suggests that life can be smooth sailing for a time (the reach), followed by abrupt or challenging changes (the gybe).
While the phrase may not be widely recognized outside sailing circles, it has found a place in sailing culture, reflecting the community’s penchant for using nautical terms to describe life’s experiences.“
As a windsurfer, I regarded the saying as a complete antithesis of “Life’s a bitch and then you die.” – anyone who has done significant windsurfing will know that a (broad) reach is the fastest, and hence most exciting angle of sailing. They will also know that a well performed, fully planing gybe is the most satisfying move as you come out at speed and straight into another reach in the other direction. Hence the saying for me was life’s something to enjoy, and at the end you just turn around and do it again. That’s windsurfing!
So somehow I’m going to try an correct this extremely minor error in the history of sailing, and maybe make the saying the positive slogan I have always regarded it as.
On a more minor note – I created this website originally as a windsurfing guide to New Zealand, and included many pages for organisations, people and businesses – many of whom did not know the Internet very well and did not have websites. I then went on to create a website for Windsurfing NZ, the national windsurfing organisation – and spent many years maintaining it – including publishing an online newsletter, made up of various reports and news from the website – I called it Broad Reach (the pun is pretty obvious). A long time later Yachting NZ came out with their own version – Broad Reach Radio – (I thought they started with a newsletter, but may be wrong) – but I know I predated YNZ by quite a while. I’ll see if I can find my original headline graphic, maybe even some editions.
I’m sure Broad Reach is not an original idea for naming a news feed, although I hadn’t heard it used in that way before me, surely someone in the sailing world had thought of it?
(edit) Found it! – thanks Wayback Machine!
(another edit) – Being curious, I also looked into the phrase “Life’s a user experience.” and neither ChatGPT or Google can find it except on this website – so I’m going to claim it as well.
ChatGPT (again, emphasis is mine 😉 – “The phrase “Life’s a user experience” appears to be a modern, informal expression that plays on the term “user experience” (UX), a concept central to design and technology fields. While the exact origin of this phrase is unclear, it likely emerged as a clever twist on the more cynical saying, “Life’s a bitch and then you die,” reframed through the lens of UX design principles.”