Question to all Americans: why do you refer to vehicles and ships as "she"?

[rado84]

I've noticed only Americans tend to refer to cars and ships as "she". Why "she"? After all these are inanimate objects, so why the "she" pronoun?
Is it just ignorance or is it something else I don't understand?

[Excited Penguin]

It's not only Americans.
It's because men think of women as property, ofc.
Hashtag feminism.

Seriously though, if you had a very intelligent robot, wouldn't you refer to it as a he/she, depending on what you would like most to imagine it as? It humanizes something you rely on. It's a natural thing to do, really.

[Minimalist]

They are expensive and break down a lot?

[Salacious B. Crumb]

Because they don't have a wee-wee.

In all seriousness, I don't get it either. I don't name cars or refer to inanimate objects using personal pronouns, except for "it". I don't think it's just America though.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I found several explanations for this, here's the one I think may be closest:  Ships are referred to in the feminine because they're protective, in the manner of a human mother or a well-disposed goddess.  Your mum keeps you safe from harm, from the elements, and so forth (one source went so far as to call sailing ships 'wooden wombs').  This is reflected in that many private sailors name their boats after important women in their lives.  Referring to other vehicles in the feminine is very likely a case of simple cultural inertia.

Boru

[rado84]

It's not only Americans.

Seriously though, if you had a very intelligent robot, wouldn't you refer to it as a he/she, depending on what you would like most to imagine it as? It humanizes something you rely on. It's a natural thing to do, really.

Probably not but so far from all the people I've ever met and/or talked to through the internet only Americans have done that.

I wouldn't. I stick to the grammatical rules. I've named my computer after a pretty boy I used to know but when it comes to pronouns I alway refer to it as an "it", not as a "he". I mean in English. In Bulgarian it's a little different, which if anyone's interested, I could explain.

[Excited Penguin]

I stick to the grammatical rules.

You sound boring!
Grammar is there for us, not the other way around. You can overstep it if you like.

[Pyrrho]

The concept is known as "personification," in which people attribute human characteristics to nonhuman things.  This occurs in many, and perhaps all, cultures.  See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism


For the specific example of ships, the British have used "she" as well, which can be seen from this:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defini...nglish/she

This has been going on for hundreds of years (at least).

Here is an article about this specific topic:

http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/12/ships.html

[downbeatplumb]

I've noticed only Americans tend to refer to cars and ships as "she". Why "she"? After all these are inanimate objects, so why the "she" pronoun?
Is it just ignorance or is it something else I don't understand?

I think they refer to ships as "she" because they are filled with seamen (semen).

Their cars for similar reasons. they are dirty dirty people.

[FreeTony]

According to wiki:

"Traditionally ships, even ships named after men such as USS Barry, countries, and oceans have been referred to using the feminine pronouns. The origins of this practice are not certain - it is not, as is sometimes postulated, a remnant of Old English's grammatical gender (in Old English, a ship, or "scip", was neuter, and a boat, or "bāt", was masculine)."