Message Forum: Re: geography and English

Re: geography and English

Posted By: MistyCat, on host 203.109.176.194
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2005, at 06:58:27
In Reply To: Re: geography and English posted by aolfreak123 on Tuesday, December 13, 2005, at 12:16:23:

> Typically nouns don't have gender in English, yet large ships are refered to as 'she' rather than 'it'. Anyone know why?

Here's a quote I can source only as:
Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 7, 2000 (23:41) * 8 lines

Many moons ago - that means a long time ago, new sailing ships were dedicated to a goddess who allegedly protected the ship.
This goddess would allegedly guide the ship safely to its destination. An image of the goddess was typically carved on the ship's bow, and this carved image led to the ships being referred to as "she."

Misty"Seems reasonable to me"Cat

Link: Ships referred to as she.

RinkChat Username:
Password:
Email:		(optional)
Subject:
Message:	> > Typically nouns don't have gender in English, yet large ships are refered to as 'she' rather than 'it'. Anyone know why? > > Here's a quote I can source only as: > Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 7, 2000 (23:41) * 8 lines > > Many moons ago - that means a long time ago, new sailing ships were dedicated to a goddess who allegedly protected the ship. > This goddess would allegedly guide the ship safely to its destination. An image of the goddess was typically carved on the ship's bow, and this carved image led to the ships being referred to as "she." > > Misty"Seems reasonable to me"Cat
Link URL:		(optional)
Link Title:		(optional)

Post a Reply