There’s a hidden secret to “boxing the compass”, because in many cases it’s a hazing ritual.

They would teach the compass to young sailors, who would have to recite all the points of the compass on pain of a dunking… and then they get dunked anyway because they didn’t mention “the point at the center”.

I heard this from someone in the merchant marine, but later also read about it in a book about England in the nineteenth century. I don’t know if it’s universal or not.