Starboard

Starboard is a term used on boats and ships to mean the right side of the vessel, as perceived by a person facing forward (i.e., towards the pointy end).

The origin of this term is as follows. Once upon a time, before boats had rudders on their centerline, boats were steered by use of a specialized oar. This oar was held by a sailor located towards the stern (back) of the boat. However, like most of the rest of society, there were many more right-handed sailors than left-handed sailors. This meant that the right-handed sailors holding the steering oar (which had been broadened to provide better control) used to stand on the right side of the boat. Thus, starboard is a corruption of steering board.

As a side note, the reason the term port, which refers the left side of the boat, came to be called that, was because the sailors did not want to crush their steering boards between their vessel and the dock, so the left side of the boat was always set against the pier (i.e., the port).