Why are boats called "she"?

[Hullygully]

?

[BlueMagoo]

No idea. Cars are 'she' too

[puds11]

I imagine the car thing follows on from boats, and maybe its because boats were typically sailed by men?

[JammySplodger]

Dunno, DHs cars have all been blokes though. My one car has been gender neutral.

[FuckityFuckFuck]

After a quick google, it appears nobody knows for sure. It could be because 'in the Romance languages, the word for "ship" is always in the feminine. For this reason, Mediterranean sailors always referred to their ship as "she", and the practice was adopted over the centuries by their English-speaking counterparts'

Or

'a ship "was nearer and dearer to the sailor than anyone except his mother." What better reason to call his ship "she"?'

However, not all cars a 'she'. My car is Dave :)

[JammySplodger]

Dave is a good name for a car.

[Balderdashandpiffle]

I was going to do a joke about containing sea-men, but thought better of it.

Countries are female as well and of course mother earth.

[JammySplodger]

Are planes too?

[witchwithallthetrimmings]

but fitf barco (spanish) is masculine as is bateau (french). barca (little boat is feminine

[FuckityFuckFuck]

I have no idea, just going by Mr Google. I can barely speak english half the time :o

[TiggyD]

I believe it was also considered back luck to have women on board, so why are ships female? Odd.

[TeiTetua]

Because they're meant to be under men's control, but in reality they show that they have minds of their own.

[honeydragon]

My Granda said it is because she carries lives safely to their destination

[honeydragon]

Erm he was a navy captain btw

[LadySybildeChocolate]

Arr, ye be wantin' to know this, yarr... Uh... Garr, we be not knowin', ye landlubbers... walks the plank

[LadySybildeChocolate]

//www.ehow.com/facts_5931300_naval-ships-referred-she_.html

[FoodUnit]

I think anything men want to own, control or conquer is called 'she'. Lands and countries as well as boats, cars, musical instruments, etc.

[Uppercut]

FoodUnit
"I think anything men want to own, control or conquer is called 'she'. Lands and countries as well as boats, cars, musical instruments, etc."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatherland#Groups_that_refer_to_their_native_country_as_a_.22fatherland.22

Doesn't look like it.

[ThatWasOneFatAssCatThere]

I think it is to justify the weird anthropomorphising men do about their cars and boats. Boats become sexy or loyal and reliable. They'd probably feel weird calling it an it or a he

[FoodUnit]

Uppercut
"Doesn't look like it."
I thought this thread was about calling boats 'she' in the English language - which is remarkable because the majority of inanimate things are gender neutral. How come you're bringing the word 'fatherland' into it (which doesn't tend to be used for the UK or English speaking countries) and isn't even comparable since its not referring to an object as 'he'?

When people are speaking about history, etc, they refer to countries as 'she' and 'her' like they do about boats.

[namechangeguy]

FatAssCat - my car is called Claudia (after Ms Schiffer) because she/it is German, a beautiful shape and the perfect age for me

FoodUnit, is your point then that it is only the English-speaking nations that want to conquer or own? Are you not considering other nations or cultures? I thought patriarchy and misogyny were international traits, and would therefore be reflected in all languages?

[Snorbs]

I believe that Russians refer to ships as "he".

[FoodUnit]

"FoodUnit, is your point then that it is only the English-speaking nations that want to conquer or own?"

No my point is that in English we don't have gendered pronouns for things that do not have a sex. The exceptions in the English language is what this thread is about.

[GoldShip]

So men can refer to then lovingly?

[GoldShip]

Strangely enough I have this 'thing' where each item I come across has a gender, inanimate objects.

A boat to me is female, a car female, a bike male. It's weird I can't explain it