4 ms·

But why call it a yacht? While technically correct, it does not seem to embody the spirit of the word.

• JustSomeNobody 9y ago
  Well, as long as he speaks like Thurston Howell the third, he should be fine.
• soneil 9y ago
  Because it's a British magazine. In the British usage of the word, a sailboat is a dinghy if it's open-top, and yacht if it has an enclosed cabin. He can close his hatch creating a sealed interior, so it's a yacht. (We very rarely use 'sailboat' alone, as Americans do.) In the US usage, the term 'yacht' seems to be mired in classism and elitism. A boat is french's mustard, and a yacht is grey poupon. There's no simple definition to tell you when a vessel is one or the other. Quite bizarre - given that America traditionally imagines herself as classless, you'd almost expect these two to be reversed.
  • cat199 9y ago
    > given that America traditionally imagines herself as classless, you'd almost expect these two to be reversed. In my view more that americans of all classes view themselves in some way as part of an unified 'rebellious'/'underdog' class.. so most anything that sticks out as having any pretence is 'elitist'.. nevermind that this attitude itself has it's own flavor of pretense to false-humility.. but I digress..
• danaliv 9y ago
  I was told by my sailing instructor, with tongue slightly in cheek, that a yacht is a boat you can sleep on.