Why do people refer boats and ships as girls?

Question

When and why have people called ships and boats female?

Answer 1

"For thousands of years, we have gone to sea. We have crafted vessels to carry us and we have called them by name. These ships will nurture and care for us through perilous seas, and so we affectionately call them "she."

Answer 2

A quick study of the language used by those who designed, built, and sailed ships 2000 years ago will clear this up. The terms used were decidedly feminine in the language. The term "vessel" today could be taken from "vase" which is the description of both the shape of the ship - something one could put thing into - as well as it's action while it floats on the ocean. This term, coming from the French word vaisselle, means "ship" which is a feminine word. Most original terms used to describe various parts and actions of ships are feminine. Hence, she.

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

"Why are Boats Referred to as "She"?"

Connie asks: I am trying to find out why boats are always referred to as the female gender.. When and why did this practice start?
According to Yarns of the Sea, Legends, Myths, and Superstitions: Although women were considered to bring bad luck at sea, mariners always use the pronoun "she" when referring to their ships. Whether its proper name is masculine, or whether it is a man o'war, a battleship, or a nuclear submarine, a ship is always referred to as "she."

This old tradition is thought to stem from the fact that 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.

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

Answer 4

Most boats are crewed by men so the ships had to be female. The figureheads would look terrible as men. At least they sail around th buoys.

Answer 5

Not only because a source of transportation is referred to as "she" for the components of a woman that its compared to. But we get our meanings from the other languages. Supportively the French, where vaisselle = ship, which was a feminine word used as well as auto, glissade, and vaisseau, were also words that had the heavy accent in French to have it pronounced as a feminine word and to be called feminine in English!

Answer 6

This is probably because in days gone by, it was mostly only men who went to sea and they tended to name their boats after their wives, mothers or girlfriends etc. But this is not exclusively so, for example, in the Navy, there are many warships named after men (Admirals, Presidents etc)

Answer 7

boats are very much the same as girls you never know when they are going to disapoint you or cost you money

Answer 8

I asked my grandfather this question when I was a kid. He told me to ask when I was older. I guess it's because most men don't want to ride another man.

Answer 9

GRAMMAR, nouns can be,neuter,masculine or feminine,in America we tent to feminize in English

Answer 10

Cause men like to get in them.