When does a boat get a "the" in front of its name? Idle chatter - no need to read unless you are bored.

[Amulet]

Mostly we call yachts by their name. I'd say "Amulet is a nice boat", not "The Amulet is a nice boat." However it is "The Titanic". Recently I noticed that Northern Lighthouse Board staff speak of "The Pharos" whereas I've always called her "Pharos". As a lad I cruised on a not so big motor launch known as "The Morag", I have an impression that the article is more likely to be applied to big boats and more to motor boats. as well as, maybe historically important boats.

Is it a badge of honour?

 

[yoda]

My preferred boat name was 'The Sorcerer' but the MCA wouldn't let me have that name despite their being no boats or ships with that name.

Yoda

 

[thinwater]

Never.

For example, this Wiki article about RMS Titanic does not.


The style guides for the mags I write for do not insert "the." Many quality magazines use "the." The US Navy does not use the (it is USS Nimitz).
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-the-titanic-still-fascinates-us-98137822/
https://news.usni.org/2015/12/22/uss-nimitz-to-remain-in-bremerton-until-2019-to-avoid-homeport-changes-between-maintenance-periods

In reality, the defining characteristic of English is that no matter how hard you try to tie it down, it is fluid.

 

[ZoeImogen]

Back in a previous life, I always used to say that you never wanted to be described as "...a senior member of <Political Party>" because it usually meant you'd screwed up massively and someone was trying to sex up the story. I suspect ships are the same: It's only if something goes really badly wrong then you start being "The". (The Costa Concordia, the Herald of Free Enterprise, the Titanic etc)

 

[johnalison]

All the 'the' vessels I can think of are ships, in fact all ships. I can't remember ever calling a yacht 'the', so it seems that the main qualification for 'the' title is not to be a yacht.

 

[Leighb]

All the 'the' vessels I can think of are ships, in fact all ships. I can't remember ever calling a yacht 'the', so it seems that the main qualification for 'the' title is not to be a yacht.

I would generally agree, but know one chap who does use "the" in front of certain yacht names, usually those of his family. Possibly a bit old fashioned views though.

 

[thinwater]

The US Navy does not use "the." The BBC does not use "the" except when quoting the Queen, but she was using it in a specific grammatical way.
BBC re. HMS Hood

No "the."

 

[tillergirl]

Fowler (HW Fowler 'A Dictionary of Modern English Usage) would take issue with the Capital 'T'. Lower case 't' in 'the' is fine (when needed attributively i.e the Amulet, the Titanic); he says "though compositors or writers often choose the wrong alternative and print 'The', a moment thought shows that it is must have its 'the'."

 

[Hydrozoan]

Use of the definite article in referring to a boat (not as part of its name, when it would take the capital T) is perhaps a little more likely if the name is also the name of a person: e.g. 'The Nancy Blackett is owned by a trust' but 'Asgard became a sail training vessel'.

 

[Dan Tribe]

Mostly we call yachts by their name. I'd say "Amulet is a nice boat", not "The Amulet is a nice boat." However it is "The Titanic". Recently I noticed that Northern Lighthouse Board staff speak of "The Pharos" whereas I've always called her "Pharos". As a lad I cruised on a not so big motor launch known as "The Morag", I have an impression that the article is more likely to be applied to big boats and more to motor boats. as well as, maybe historically important boats.

Is it a badge of honour?

Mostly we call yachts by their name. I'd say "Amulet is a nice boat", not "The Amulet is a nice boat." However it is "The Titanic". Recently I noticed that Northern Lighthouse Board staff speak of "The Pharos" whereas I've always called her "Pharos". As a lad I cruised on a not so big motor launch known as "The Morag", I have an impression that the article is more likely to be applied to big boats and more to motor boats. as well as, maybe historically important boats.

Is it a badge of honour?

I've sometimes wondered why some countries are designated "The".
I can understand if it's a collection of states such as, The United States, The United Kingdom etc, but why The Gambia, The Netherlands, The Ukraine, The Congo Etc.?
We don't say The France or The Germany.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I've sometimes wondered why some countries are designated "The".
I can understand if it's a collection of states such as, The United States, The United Kingdom etc, but why The Gambia, The Netherlands, The Ukraine, The Congo Etc.?
We don't say The France or The Germany.

The French say "La France", and we say "The United Kingdom". But what do we call the bit of Czechslovakia which didn't become Slovakia. Czech? Czechia? The Czech?

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Google seems to tell me that its origins are lost in the mists of time, but it was always 'the Skylark'.

 

[Amulet]

I've sometimes wondered why some countries are designated "The".
I can understand if it's a collection of states such as, The United States, The United Kingdom etc, but why The Gambia, The Netherlands, The Ukraine, The Congo Etc.?
We don't say The France or The Germany.

The peculiarity exists in German too. Some countries get an article - but not the same ones as we would give an article to e.g., die Schweiz.