To the or not to the . . .
- Thread starter rwidman
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
BruceK
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Both can be correct, except in the first "and" should be "to", the "try" is "to bring" the boat, not something separate and additional.
The first denotes an attempt is being made with uncertainty of success, (though whether that was intended is anyone`s guess). The second indicates certainty the "bringing down" will happen, with no qualification.
It is too long since I studied English sentence construction, and parsing,to explain reasoning further.
Later we can progress to various ways of pronouncing the word "pedant".
jwnall
Moderator Emeritus
Rwidman wrote:
"That's the worst boat name I've ever heard of.".
.
Well, I suppose that I could make up something about what triple-X might mean, but in this case it merely means that I did not use the actual name of the boat.
John
"That's the worst boat name I've ever heard of.".
.
Well, I suppose that I could make up something about what triple-X might mean, but in this case it merely means that I did not use the actual name of the boat.
John
Pineapple Girl
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Lol. There are some boats we know that we always refer to as "the" whatever and some we don't. Can't tell you why. For instance, seabiscuit versus "the" Ada Helen. I guess we use the "the" on Ada Helen because otherwise it sounds like you're talking about a lady and not a boat??? Is xxx named after a person?
jwnall
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BruceK wrote:
"Both can be correct, except in the first "and" should be "to", the "try" is "to bring" the boat, not something separate and additional."
You need to understand that in the U.S. "Southern English" does not necessarily follow the rules. For better or worse (mostly worse) it is different. Blame it all on the Scotch. (Not the drink -- the racial group, who came over here early on and established themselves in the southeast).
"Both can be correct, except in the first "and" should be "to", the "try" is "to bring" the boat, not something separate and additional."
You need to understand that in the U.S. "Southern English" does not necessarily follow the rules. For better or worse (mostly worse) it is different. Blame it all on the Scotch. (Not the drink -- the racial group, who came over here early on and established themselves in the southeast).
BruceK
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Language is fluid and ever evolving. Plenty of people here would use "and" instead of "to" in that instance. To me it is grammatically wrong, but accepted expression, so people understand each other, is what matters.
Keith
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The first statement is a polite NO from a southerner.
VixenII
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Wilmington, DE or Wilmington, NC? And, since the word has been mentioned - pedant... The "racial group?" were Scots, not the drink Scotch...
"The Glenlivet" or "Bowmore"? Both go down well.
beachbum29
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They're not coming down.
BaltimoreLurker
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I think they were Scots/Irish and they don't go down easily at all.
I don't think "Scots" would be classified as a racial group. Ethnic group perhaps, but not racial.
beachbum29
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The Romans inserted some DNA when they conquered us. Wonder what we really are now?
psneeld
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It's "up to Charleston" as longitude is increasing..opposite of "Downeast Maine" 
If you are just trying to needle her...I would tell her that she'll never make it all the way because she insulted her boat.
If you are just trying to needle her...I would tell her that she'll never make it all the way because she insulted her boat.
VixenII
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Just to clarify a post - I didn't name the Scots a "racial group." Poster number 6 did. I was merely pointing out his misuse of Scots/Scotch.... gotta love some of these posts - they travel so far, so fast, and so.....
beachbum29
Guru
This is becoming complicated...
Yes you were. I responded to your post because I didn't want to quote the misuse of the word "Scotch".
With regards to putting a "the" in front of a vessel's name I think it's most common not to. But depending on the rest of the sentence structure, it may be more natural to include a "the," particularly if the sentence is being spoken, simply because it flows better.
We do not put a "the" in front of La Perouse in writing or speech. But some names lend themselves to a "the" better than others. "I'm going out on Nimitz" is probably the more "correct" sentence structure, but the easier to say and probably the more common structure is 'I'm going out on the Nimitz."
While I have not made any sort of study of this, it seems to me that vessel names that are made up of two or more words tend to be used without a "the" where single word names often tend to be used with a "the."
"The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac." "Gertrude L. Thebaud almost won the International Fisherman's Race against the Bluenose."
So I don't know. There probably is a "rule" somewhere but I don't know what it is. So I just say and write what flows the best in the sentence.
We do not put a "the" in front of La Perouse in writing or speech. But some names lend themselves to a "the" better than others. "I'm going out on Nimitz" is probably the more "correct" sentence structure, but the easier to say and probably the more common structure is 'I'm going out on the Nimitz."
While I have not made any sort of study of this, it seems to me that vessel names that are made up of two or more words tend to be used without a "the" where single word names often tend to be used with a "the."
"The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac." "Gertrude L. Thebaud almost won the International Fisherman's Race against the Bluenose."
So I don't know. There probably is a "rule" somewhere but I don't know what it is. So I just say and write what flows the best in the sentence.
