Three Sheets to the Wind
An expression meaning very drunk, unsteady or out of control.
In sailing, a sheet is a line controlling a sail rather than the sail itself. A vessel with several sheets loose or flying would have sails uncontrolled and could yaw or stagger in a way likened to an intoxicated person.
The exact historical numbering is not a technical rig state shared by all vessels, so colourful claims about precisely three loose sheets should be treated as idiomatic explanation rather than formal seamanship.
