Why are ships wimmen? says Billy Magee,
'Ere's a few reasons as look good to me.
There's good uns an' bad uns, an wild an' contrary,
An stubborn an' stupid an' devil-may-carey;
There's some that ain'nothin' but varnish an' paint,
There's some 'as got tempers 'ud bother a saint,
There's some steers a course an' there's some as just won't,
There's them fellers stick to an' them as they don't
An' this 'ere's a fact about wimmen and 'ookers -
*
The best uns to live with ain't all the best lookers.
'Umour an' coax 'em you'll get your own way with 'em,
'Andle 'em wrong, there's the divvle to Pay with 'em.
'Larn all you life, you won't know all about 'em.
An' wot 'ud the world be for us chaps without 'em?
C. Fox-Smith
* Hooker, or 'ooker above, was the slang name for ships in the distant past, when the word had a different meaning from now!
I wonder if Jerry has been to sea? - somehow I doubt it.
Take the following time-honoured nautical sayings:
I name this ship.... and God bless all who sail in her. (Launching ceremony)
Steady as she goes (Helm order).
Stop her. (Order to stop engines).
Should these in fact be:
I name this ship.... and God bless all who sail in it?
Steady as it goes!
Stop it!
I have known hard men who sailed in the same ship for decades on end, and when their beloved ships were scrapped, their hearts were broken!
I myself spent 11 years in one ship, and she meant the world to me. It was heartbreaking when I left her all forlorn in a drydock in the driving snow and hail, never to see her again, when she was sold at the age of 27 years.
Nowadays, it is fashionable to call anything that floats a "boat" even if it is a quarter of a million tons!
Old traditions should be honoured, in my view
Bob