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Question. It is normal to say drive a boat? My father was a sea captain for his entire life and never used the word drive. I also grew up around fishermen and

• scottmey 6y ago
  “Pilots a boat”, is what I was taught.
• japhyr 6y ago
  Here in southeast Alaska, I usually hear people say "drive". For example if people are talking about a somewhat sketchy or tense return from a trip, you might ask them "Who was driving?" I never hear anyone say "Who was captain?" or "Who was steering?" "Captain" seems to imply a title, and "steering" sounds like you just took the wheel for a moment. That may be different for people who spend a lot of time on commercial boats. When I've been in formal settings, say on a police boat while doing search and rescue work, we will talk about the person who is filling the role of captain. But we still say that person is "driving" the boat.
  • megameter 6y ago
    I specifically remember seeing this distinction in, of all things, a 40's war-era Superman comic, where an everyman G.I. character tasked with truck driving was told, "anyone can steer - we need drivers!" Which makes me believe "drive" probably is nautical in origin and then corrupted through casual usage in automotive transit, where steering and driving are more often equated.
    • deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    • tomcam 6y ago
      Maybe not. Long before there were cars, the people who held the reins of a carriage were called drivers. They were literally driving the horses forward. So too the mule drivers