3 ms·

The story vacillates between "it" and "her" when referring to the ship. Is there some nautical tradition that prescribes that?

dcminter 2y ago
"Bells, it may be noted, like ships and kittens, have a way of being female, whatever names they are given." -- Dorothy Sayers
- focusedone 2y ago
  Sayers quote left my head spinning - wasn't expecting to see that here! Wish I could upvote that twice.
AStonesThrow 2y ago
There's a perennial debate on Wikipedia about which way to go. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(ships)#Pronouns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(... Indeed, there are plenty of longstanding nautical traditions which refer to vessels in the feminine. Popular culture and Wikipedia's non-enthusiast population tend to neuter them. Interestingly, Christian churches are feminine as well, although English-speakers may have grown ignorant of this since 1970.
- LikesPwsh 2y ago
  Rather than ignorance, it's the ongoing development of the language. French schoolchildren seem to spend half their time learning the gender of inanimate objects. The sooner we can get rid of that, the better. The closest equivalent time-waster we have is different names for different groups of animals (flock, pack, herd etc).
  - AStonesThrow 2y ago
    > Rather than ignorance, it's the ongoing development of the language. No, it's ignorance. Because English is an explicitly non-gendered language, unlike French where any child automatically knows that "église" is feminine. The Roman Catholic liturgy was rather simplified in 1970 and included an unfortunate neutering. In 2011, these errors were corrected, and the femininity of the Church is rightfully restored. Ignorance consists in not being up to date in this regard.
    - Almondsetat 2y ago
      "automatically" = had to learn it
  - themaninthedark 2y ago
    >The sooner we can get rid of that, the better. Why? Is it a waste of time or another reason?

dcminter 2y ago

"Bells, it may be noted, like ships and kittens, have a way of being female, whatever names they are given." -- Dorothy Sayers

focusedone 2y ago
Sayers quote left my head spinning - wasn't expecting to see that here! Wish I could upvote that twice.

AStonesThrow 2y ago

There's a perennial debate on Wikipedia about which way to go. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(ships)#Pronouns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(... Indeed, there are plenty of longstanding nautical traditions which refer to vessels in the feminine. Popular culture and Wikipedia's non-enthusiast population tend to neuter them. Interestingly, Christian churches are feminine as well, although English-speakers may have grown ignorant of this since 1970.

LikesPwsh 2y ago
Rather than ignorance, it's the ongoing development of the language. French schoolchildren seem to spend half their time learning the gender of inanimate objects. The sooner we can get rid of that, the better. The closest equivalent time-waster we have is different names for different groups of animals (flock, pack, herd etc).
- AStonesThrow 2y ago
  > Rather than ignorance, it's the ongoing development of the language. No, it's ignorance. Because English is an explicitly non-gendered language, unlike French where any child automatically knows that "église" is feminine. The Roman Catholic liturgy was rather simplified in 1970 and included an unfortunate neutering. In 2011, these errors were corrected, and the femininity of the Church is rightfully restored. Ignorance consists in not being up to date in this regard.
  - Almondsetat 2y ago
    "automatically" = had to learn it
- themaninthedark 2y ago
  >The sooner we can get rid of that, the better. Why? Is it a waste of time or another reason?