Yeah, but just take a look at one of the earlier episodes where I think it's Tom Paris who refers to the ship as "the Voyager." It's just weird and awkward.
"The" or not
- Thread starter theblitz
- Start date
Yeah but that's a screencap from one of the Naked Gun movies, nice typeface choice for the hospital though...
I don't know how true it is, but I remember hearing somewhere that in the RW there is an element of British English v American English based on the full name of the ship in question.
Royal Navy ships are "Name", because they 'belong' to an individual. For example Her Majesty's Ship Queen Elizabeth (the new RN carrier)
US Navy (and Coast Guard) ships are "the Name", because they 'belong' to a collective ie they are "The (United States' Ship) Name. For example the United States' Ship Wasp (the broadly equivalent LHD in US service.
Makes sense to me?
Royal Navy ships are "Name", because they 'belong' to an individual. For example Her Majesty's Ship Queen Elizabeth (the new RN carrier)
US Navy (and Coast Guard) ships are "the Name", because they 'belong' to a collective ie they are "The (United States' Ship) Name. For example the United States' Ship Wasp (the broadly equivalent LHD in US service.
Makes sense to me?
Actually Excelsior was often referred to without "the" many times in the movies. ("With all respect, Doctor, I'm counting on Excelsior", "Contact Excelsior. She'll have the coordinates", "Excelsior's been hit!")
I believe that was true of Reliant as well, but I'm not breaking out my DVD's or sifting through YouTube clips to check.
I think Voyager was references with a "the" by Paris once in a very early episode (the second one, I think). I think it just sounds better in that case without the definitive article. As for Enterprise NX-01, it's just a simple way to distinguish it from the many, many other ships of that name.
Beyond that, I don't think there's much rhyme or reason to it.
You're right - one of the lab techs said "Reliant's on her way" also using a proper pronoun with the proper noun). And Sulu said "Reliant in our quadrant..." (or something like that).
Yeah but that's a screencap from one of the Naked Gun movies, nice typeface choice for the hospital though...
Yes, thanks for explaining the joke.
That always makes it funnier...
We do when we refer to it as an object. I hung my plant over the television. The reason that people always said "the" radio is because unlike television, which is considered a medium first, (Like when we say I saw it "in print") the radio was always kind of conceptualized by people as an object in their home. The Shadow was produced in print, on film, on television & on radio, but people still said "the" radio
As for "the" with starships. They left it off with Voyager because not only did it reflect the name of the show Star Trek: Voyager, but "The" in front of it sounded lame, & I think that's because its too active a word, & to preface it with "the" stabilizes it too much, making it sound more official. Adventurer, Explorer, Challenger... If I were serving on anything named that, It would always be awkward to put "the" in front of it. No crowd ever chanted "The U.S.A."
The only exception I can think of is the Stargazer, & notice that it's mostly talked about in the past tense. Were I serving on it, calling it the stargazer would seem awkward as well
Jokes are better with footnotes!Yes, thanks for explaining the joke.
That always makes it funnier...
Not the USCG (I'm a former USCG PO3). Served on USCGC Sundew (WLB-404).
When referring to the full name, refer to "USCGC Sundew", not "The USCGC Sundew".
When referring to just the ship name (Sundew), sometimes we called it "Sundew", some times we called it "The Sundew", sometimes we called it "the ship", sometimes we called it "the boat", sometimes we called it "this fucking rustbucket" (but in a loving way).
I am rewatching Parallax right now and about 30 minutes in Paris refers to Voyager as "The Voyager".
Similar threads
- Poll
