Lubber is an old word (dating from the 14th century) meaning a clumsy or stupid person. This is what it means in the sailing term landlubber, which denotes an unseasoned sailor. The term refers to what veteran sailors regard as new sailors’ typical ineptitude and uselessness. See this passage from Herman Melville’s Omoo (1846):
Now, nobody is so heartily despised as a pusillanimous, lazy, good-for-nothing land-lubber; a sailor has no bowels of compassion for him. Yet, useless as such a character may be in many respects, a ship’s company is by no means disposed to let him reap any benefit from his deficiencies. Regarded in the light of a mechanical power, whenever there is any plain, hard work to be done, he is put to it like a lever; everyone giving him a pry.
Although landlubber was originally contemptuous, it’s now often used more generally to describe anyone who is unfamiliar with sailing. Landlubber is usually a single unhyphenated word, though it’s sometimes written land-lubber (as Melville wrote it).
The malapropism land lover makes logical sense in some instances, but writers often use it when they mean landlubber—for example:
Contrary to the land-lover’s view that black cats are bad luck, sailors treasure these felines … [iol]
Avast me maties and land lovers, I spot a sequel off the port bow! [Cinema Blend]
And these writers use landlubber correctly:
… the comedic possibilities of a landlubber navy chief were too potent for Gilbert to resist. [Wall Street Journal]
Members enjoyed a Fourth of July weekend packed with activities for sailors and landlubbers alike. [Shore News Today]
I’m at the Harbor Bar (that’s Pillar Point Harbor to you, landlubber), taking a rest-stop from a short camping trip. [San Diego Reader]
