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Irv Haworth wrote:
"I may be olde fashioned but Ships carry boats.  No offense ,but it grates
the nerves when these terms are inter-changed."

I hail, originally, from Liverpool, a maritime city if ever there was one
(well, it was, then...). And a rather large fraction of the population,
uncluding four of my five grandparents, worked "on the boats". These were
not fishing boats, as you might first think. They were the passenger liners,
transatlatic and further afield, which made up such a large proportion of
Liverpool's trade with the World.

In Liverpool, "the boats" meant just that one thing: the liner trade.
Somehow, the merchant cargo vessels, of which were many, were ships, not
boats. They didn't employ nearly so many locals, carrying their own crews,
from all over. But "the boats" gave employment to many thousands of
Liverpudlians, mostly domestic and catering staff rather than actual
mariners.

I don't know whether other ports in Britain used the word "boats" in that
way. It may be related to "Liverpool humour", which was well-known in those
days, one aspect of which was the belittling, by slighting reference, of the
things that were actually most revered.

George.

contact George Huxtable, at  george@hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.

   

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