the
special procedures or techniques
involved in something; the customary actions or practices of some
area,
field, etc.; the
ways to get around and do things or get things done. This
slang term is usually used in such phrases as learn the ropes or know the ropes to suggest a sophisticated
knowledge of the
ways of the
world. It derives from the days of
sailing ships, wherein a
sailor or
apprentice had to become thoroughly familiar with
handling the ropes that
control the sails of a
ship.