The story vacillates between "it" and "her" when referring to the ship.
Is there some nautical tradition that prescribes that?
Is there some nautical tradition that prescribes that?
Wish I could upvote that twice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(...
Indeed, there are plenty of longstanding nautical traditions which refer to vessels in the feminine. Popular culture and Wikipedia's non-enthusiast population tend to neuter them.
Interestingly, Christian churches are feminine as well, although English-speakers may have grown ignorant of this since 1970.
French schoolchildren seem to spend half their time learning the gender of inanimate objects. The sooner we can get rid of that, the better.
The closest equivalent time-waster we have is different names for different groups of animals (flock, pack, herd etc).
No, it's ignorance. Because English is an explicitly non-gendered language, unlike French where any child automatically knows that "église" is feminine.
The Roman Catholic liturgy was rather simplified in 1970 and included an unfortunate neutering. In 2011, these errors were corrected, and the femininity of the Church is rightfully restored. Ignorance consists in not being up to date in this regard.
Why?
Is it a waste of time or another reason?