From the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, 29 August 1941, pg. 14, col. 5:_Shooting the Breeze_
by Joseph Driscoll
(...) But when the men of the U. S. N. have time to relax, they relax in a great big way. What is their favorite relaxation? Strange as it may seem to landlubbers, your naval man would pass up wine, women or song any time if only he be permitted to shoot the breeze.
Shooting the breeze is yarn spinning, only I never heard it called the latter on shipboard. When sailor-folk shoot the breeze they are not conscious of retailing fiction.
(Long article--ed.)