Why is machinery like cars and ships referred to as females?

Answer 1

well because females are very expensive and men work so hard & die to buy 1,,also the car & other machinary are very important in people life the same as women...BEHINDE EVERY GREAT MAN A WOMAN

Answer 2

smarta55 is wrong.
english is a conglomeration of many european languages, even latin. Most European languages have a gender for virtually everything (german has a concept of neuter).
Ships and cars are feminine.
In a collective noun (in French), where the gender of the group is mixed, the masculine is assumed - e.g. a school playground full of 300 kids - if just one is male the whole group is assumed to be masculine. If gender is indeterminate (say, you're looking at an insect which is hard to sex) the masculine is also assumed.
We inherited the gender thing from mainland europe.

Answer 3

My french girlfriend asked me this question some time ago. The true answer is perfectly logical. Ships, boats, aeroplanes, trains and cars etc.,are the only nouns in the English language which carry a gender and they are always referred to as "she".The reasoning behind this is quite simply because they all carry life inside them, and only females are capable of that !

Answer 4

Has something to do with machinery like women being unpredictable, unreliable, contrary, quirky and generally tending to be a lot of fun when all goes well and a total PIA the rest of the time.

Answer 5

Its derived from our ancestors where men were placed at a higher level than women. Women were considered possessions just like cars and such, and it stuck.

Answer 6

Because they usually start out running just fine, But always end up braking down and giving you a hard time and end up costing you. They are also very beautiful when polished up.

Answer 7

Because they take a lot of time and money to maintain for the few minutes of pleasure you get.