It often depends on the language use and grammer!
In English, "the" is not gender sensitive. In most other European languages, it is gender sensitive and car is often referred as feminine gender.
In those languages, verb changes depending on gender of subject. Again, car is mostly used with female form of the verb.
Some languages have no neuter gender concept. So, each inanimate objects are either masculine or feminine. But where we have neuter gender, car is "it" - not he or she.
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My car is an 'it'. It's a machine, not an animal.
I'm always a bit concerned when a man talks about his car as 'she'; usually a cue to make excuses and go and talk to someone else.
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Girls have a habit of naming their cars. I've never known a chap name his car - save perhaps for referring to it as NJF, or whatever the registration letters may be.
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I must admit I refered to a canal boat I was on for a week recently as a "she" but have only ever refered to any car I have owned as an "it"
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Nice to see someone picked up on it! Historically railway locos and ships have always been female, even when they carry a male name!!
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Apparently, the reason ships have always historically been refered to as a "she" is down to "supersticious sailor syndrome" whereby sailors had thier own "Folk-lore" of things that were unlucky or "should never be done" at sea, such as : Whistling, (supposed to bring storm winds) talking about Rabbits (always refered to as "long-eared sea-donkeys") if they had to be mentioned in the first place!, any way i digress! the real reason ships are female is because the god of the sea is male (Neptune/Posiedon) and a "male" ship would incite conflict (the two roosters together syndrome) and bring about disaster. Even today, there are plenty of commercial fishermen (in line with folk-lore) still throw a silver coin (10/50p) over the side, to pay The "God" for the fish they were about to take, and to ensure a favourable catch.
Billy
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Ah, sailor's superstitions. The intrepid BBC reporter Kate Adie was brought up in Sunderland. Miss Adie was present at the storming of the Iranian Embassy, the invasion of Iraq, the bombing of Tripoli, and three Turkish earthquakes. When she returned home recently to launch a ship the crew shot an albatross for luck.
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My first car was a Triumph Mayflower which cost £10 of my saved up pocket money. It came with the name "Toby" from the previous owner, which I must admit I did sometimes tongue-in-cheek perpetuate. But it was always an "it".
Boats are a bit different. As a classic dating from 1880 mine seems quite naturally to be a "she", but even so I would refer to her as an it on most occasions. It's only when talking to other boaties that her gender tends to emerge.
Countries seem quite naturally to be "she" sometimes, but I think less so since 1914.
Most people seem to refer to cats as she, until corrected or proved otherwise, but dogs and horses as he.
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"It often depends on the language use and grammer!"
Hmmm!
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" I've never known a chap name his car "
Now you do - named all my cars since the age of 17.
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I would never name a car or give it gender. I'm a ship-lover, I love anything that floats on water in fact but I still don't give them gender.
I once dated a girl who used to call my XJS "the Duchess"
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Giving your car a name is really wet. However, I won't hear a bad word said about my good old........ um......."Betsy" !
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"Giving your car a name is really wet"
Wait - you mean I'm the only one who also makes tea with Kelly Kettle and throws things in Billy Bin?
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Beginning to think that some of these people are best suited to the Ultraviolet section.
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I can sort of understand others doing it where the car is an old classic that is partly hand-crafted from wood and the seats are leather stuffed with horse hair; but not for any modern car?
I've never given cars a gender. Actually I was going to say I never name them, but then remembered that my mates and I referred to my first car as "The Donkey" as the registration was D 68 ONK. Well we were 17 years old.
My fiancee had a name for her first car (I can't remember what she called it) but she has not named any subsequent ones.
I think of cars as machines. If I had the money and the room for 3 or 4 of them I would have something that is industrial in concept, with no unnecessary cossetting rubbish, an uncompromising thing like a stripped out racing or rally car, with a purity of purpose.
(Would obviously still need a velour-lined bloater for commuting duties. :o) . )
Edited by Rich 9-3 on 22/05/2008 at 14:39
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I once dated a girl who used to call my XJS "the Duchess"
I once dated a girl... and I thought it would be impressive to dig my old classic car out of the garage and turn up in that... (1968 mk1 Triumph 2000)
she said "oh my goodness it smells like my grandad's car"...which wasn't the start i was hoping for obviously...
Edited by Webmaster on 22/05/2008 at 20:06
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I've never known a chap name his car
Another namer shamed here.
Current cars called Bob (Corolla) and Griselda (Avensis). Previous Accord was known as Auntie.
But calling a car "she" is too Terry-Thomas.
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It occurs to me that while we "love" our cars and boats we don't feel the same about computers or fridge-freezers. Or am I missing something?
Having been a late convert to computer usage..and...initially not knowing how to set up filters etc...i'm convinced by some of the horrors that popped up on the screen from a brief foray into a world that you shouldn't...that there ARE people that "love" their freezers etc
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I think of my car as an "it", but if it had to have a gender, it would be male: big, clumsy, and smelly, and it never washes itself.
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Flattery..... it get's me no where fast.
As someone else mentioned, my dad, in the 70's-80's called his car Betsy, never knew why?
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called his car Betsy never knew why?
The Betsy - a film and book about an American family who own a corporation arguing over producing a fuel-efficient car.
More at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Betsy
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Anything that costs that much to keep in shape - and gives you so much grief in return, has just got to be female....
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my dad, in the 70's-80's called his car Betsy, never knew why? >>
Don't know what car you dad owned at the time, but I'd like to think that before he met your mum he went out with a young woman called Elizabeth and that when he drove his car (which was always a bit slow to start, but a more than satisfactory performer when warmed up) he thought fondly of her.
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I'll buck the trend as well, for all her faults my beautiful and graceful merc coupe is most definately the fair lady, leathered up, and with wonderful laquered walnut, and a body of ruby red, it could be no other, and its always a good feeling to stroke that lovely body after washing and polishing.
I would get banned instantly if i told what SWMBO calls her hilux, a hint is ... think of Sammy Jackson in his bad cop roles, she reckons its still female but in a tomb raider sort of way.
I think Screwloose makes a good point too though.
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Polo definitely was a boy, but Gunther is a man!
The passatdriver is currently driving a Passat called Buck, which followed Harry the Accord and Dora the Passat. All named by me, but all stuck and suited them, in a strange way...
I know... strange being the operative word.
Edited by PoloGirl on 22/05/2008 at 23:21
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>>Buck, which followed Harry the Accord and Dora <<
I see you've got a B.H.D (to some degree) in car names then! ;-)
Edited by billy25 on 23/05/2008 at 03:05
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there ARE people that "love" their freezers etc
Dear Auntie Glenda,
Although it is new and of the finest sort, my freezer (so to speak) leaves me cold. But I find myself unaccountably drawn to the water heater in the bathroom.
Do you think the fact that I am a brass monkey may have something to do with this? The freezer is giving me the cold shoulder and people have started to notice.
Yours etc.
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