"The" or not

[BillJ]

I never cared either way.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I think it's more important to settle the following debate

The= Theee (long "e")
or

The= Thuh (uhhhh)

 

[Prax]

Thou shalt board thy ship, and take thy station!

 

[sbk1234]

I was never actually in the navy, but I was in navy ROTC back in high school about 100 years ago. I seem to remember our teacher, a retired naval officer explaining that there was no "The" when naming ships. I could be wrong. It was a LONG time ago.

 

[sbk1234]

I think it's more important to settle the following debate

The= Theee (long "e")
or

The= Thuh (uhhhh)

Thee if the next sound is a vowel sound.

The if the next sound is a consonant.

 

[nightwind1]

Is there a reason this identical question gets asked about every six months? Are people not able to use the Search function to see if it's already been answered?

 

[Timo]

We haven't even tried to tackle the big question yet: italics or not?

Italics for ship names, not for class names, as Naval Review does it? Italics for both? Neither? (Microgamma Bold Extended for both?)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Moe]

I have noticed over time that certain ST ships have "the" tacked on the front of their name whereas others (other) don't.

We refer to The Enterprise, The Defiant etc but not The Voyager (except in one book which I found super annoying).
Of course, we don't say The Deep Space Nine.

So, why the inconsistencies.

It's not inconsistency, it's more just grammar. Enterprise, Defiant, and the Voyager are all names of ships, where as Deep Space Nine is like a city, we we don't say we're going to The Chicago, do we? But with a lot of ships name it's always going to be "The" because it's a thing, not a place. I think that's the best way to explain it. We say the when it's a thing.

 

[cosmic mouse]

If the full ship name is used it sounds far less weird imo: e.g. The USS Voyager

 

[1001001]

I never cared either way.

I could say that about 99% of the things I encounter.

 

[theblitz]

It's not inconsistency, it's more just grammar. Enterprise, Defiant, and the Voyager are all names of ships, where as Deep Space Nine is like a city, we we don't say we're going to The Chicago, do we? But with a lot of ships name it's always going to be "The" because it's a thing, not a place. I think that's the best way to explain it. We say the when it's a thing.

But yet we don't say The Voyager.

 

[Moe]

But yet we don't say The Voyager.

You seem to be looking way too into something that really means nothing. Does how someone says a name of a ship really mean anything? No, what I said is true. What matters is context, how it's referred to. Sorry I'm just at a of a bit lost as to why I am explaining the English language right now. Regardless it's not inconsistency.

 

[The Wormhole]

But yet we don't say The Voyager.

Because saying "the Voyager" sounds weird. It's really as simple as that.

 

[at Quark's]

Is there a reason this identical question gets asked about every six months? Are people not able to use the Search function to see if it's already been answered?

Yeah, why don't they ask something original for once? Like, does the Federation use money, or is Starfleet a military?

Because saying "the Voyager" sounds weird. It's really as simple as that.

It happens a few times in the series, but not often. And most of these times by people who aren't a part of the Voyager crew.

 

[cosmic mouse]

The real answer to the question may be that "the Enterprise" (or an enterprise) seems to denote an object or intangible (in-animate) or not, whereas "Voyager" seems more aligned with a specific individual traveling from one point to another. A point that I wouldn't normally hyper-analyze if not for the bud.

 

[sbk1234]

Is there a reason this identical question gets asked about every six months? Are people not able to use the Search function to see if it's already been answered?

Yes, there is a reason. Many people post here not really to find out answers to Trek questions, but to interact with fellow fans and engage in discussion on a subject they love. It's about the social contact, and not simply getting an answer. There's Google for that.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Now that I think of it, I think use of the definite article with "television" even varies regionally in the U.S. I lived in the South for years, and unless my memory is playing tricks on me, it wasn't uncommon to hear "the television" there.

 

[Forbin]

Then again, ship names are proper names (proper nouns?), and you don'e say "the" infront of somebody's name.
Except The Sisko, of course.

 

[alensatemybuick1]

Now that I think of it, I think use of the definite article with "television" even varies regionally in the U.S. I lived in the South for years, and unless my memory is playing tricks on me, it wasn't uncommon to hear "the television" there.

As an homage to my late Grandfather, I always refer to it as "the television set".

 

[theblitz]

As an homage to my late Grandfather, I always refer to it as "the television set".

Not the gogglebox?