To 'The', or not to 'The'?

[Rowan Sjet]

When talking about the ships of Trek, I almost always add a 'The' to 'Enterprise', but I never add a 'The' to 'Voyager'. Example:

The Enterprise is about to dock.

Voyager is about to dock.

'The Voyager' just sounds weird to my ears, but I don't know why. Is it just because the writers never refer to it that way, so I'm unused to it? If so, why don't the writers ever refer to it as 'The Voyager'?

Do you find yourself doing this with these or other ships? Which ones?

 

[J.T.B.]

My habit is old-school navy: It's a proper name, so it doesn't need the article. (It's also "in" a ship, never "on") That said, I don't really notice when Trek uses "the," I guess I've just grown used to it.

--Justin

 

[Mysterion]

My habit is old-school navy: It's a proper name, so it doesn't need the article. (It's also "in" a ship, never "on") That said, I don't really notice when Trek uses "the," I guess I've just grown used to it.

--Justin

I agree with JTb on this. Ship names are proper names and do not need the "the" in front of them.

 

[RobertScorpio]

My habit is old-school navy: It's a proper name, so it doesn't need the article. (It's also "in" a ship, never "on") That said, I don't really notice when Trek uses "the," I guess I've just grown used to it.

--Justin

I agree with JTb on this. Ship names are proper names and do not need the "the" in front of them.

But this is STAR TREK. And THE ENTERPRISE is how Kirk did it, and Picard. And we ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL know that THE ENTERPRISE is far more famous than that mini-van in the Delta Quadrant.

Sisko and company did it too I think. I always heard "The Defiant" and not, Defiant. Sometimes they did just say Defiant, but I think they used the dreaded THE too.

Rob Scorpio

 

[StewMc]

There is at least one instance of "The Voyager" featuring in dialogue: Tom Paris says it in 'Parallax' when they crew discover that the ship in distress is themselves: "It's the Voyager, it's us!".

It seemed to be quickly dropped after that, but I think it resurfaced once or twice more, usually spoken by some Aliens of the Week.

Of course ENT also dropped the "the" for the most part. The original NCC-1701 was often referred to as simply "Enterprise" quite often too, particularly in the movies.

"Grissom, this is Enterprise calling..."
"I'd prefer to oversee the refit of Enterprise" (perhaps not exact quote)
etc

 

[DS9forever]

Being from the UK, "the Enterprise" or "the Defiant" sounds much better.

 

[T'Cal]

I kinda liked dropping the "The" as they did for Voyager and Enterprise in their shows. It was strange-sounding at first but I got used to it and now prefer it. Still, I love the line from FC that was spoken by Defiant's helmsman, "There's another starship coming in. It's the Enterprise!"

 

[JoeZhang]

Being from the UK, "the Enterprise" or "the Defiant" sounds much better.

yeah sounds odd without the article.

 

[Lowdarzz]

I prefer the "the". For some reason it always annoyed me when they would just call the ship Enterprise instead of the Enterprise. In the other series just calling the ship Voyager or Defiant was just find. To me however Enterprise needs a "the" in front of it.

 

[drasche]

I kinda liked dropping the "The" as they did for Voyager and Enterprise in their shows. It was strange-sounding at first but I got used to it and now prefer it. Still, I love the line from FC that was spoken by Defiant's helmsman, "There's another starship coming in. It's the Enterprise!"

And minutes later, Worf enquires about "The Defiant?".

I'm used the article. I always found it odd not to use it anymore in the Enterprise series (I think I even didn't notice in Voyager), but it could be explained by a change in tradition between ENT and TOS eras.

 

[THE_FETT]

I like "The Voyager" and wish they'd have kept it that way.

 

[Sci]

Technically, you're not supposed to use an article in front of ship's names. You wouldn't say, "The Robert is on his way." You'd say, "Robert is on his way." So it is with a ship. So, while VOY and ENT were breaking with Trek tradition by calling their ships simply Voyager and Enterprise, they were actually using correct grammar.

 

[Brian]

My habit is old-school navy: It's a proper name, so it doesn't need the article.

For most ships, I agree. But "the Enterprise" is so ingrained in me after 40+ years of TOS, I prefer the article for NCC-1701 and its descendants.

(It's also "in" a ship, never "on")

I have to disagree on that one. "On" is shorthand for "onboard" and is the proper usage, IMO. Even IRL, you never hear that someone's kid is "in" the USS Ronald Reagan or the Nimitz. They're stationed "on" them.

 

[Good Will Riker]

"The" seemed to have been dropped somewhere between titling TV shows post-"The Next Generation" and beginning with the TNG feature films (Generations, First Contact, Insurrection, Nemesis).

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

I agree with the OP - somehow The Enterprise and The Defiant sound right, yet The Voyager sounds wrong to me. I guess it is what I got used to hearing on the shows.

 

[J.T.B.]

My habit is old-school navy: It's a proper name, so it doesn't need the article.

For most ships, I agree. But "the Enterprise" is so ingrained in me after 40+ years of TOS, I prefer the article for NCC-1701 and its descendants.

(It's also "in" a ship, never "on")

I have to disagree on that one. "On" is shorthand for "onboard" and is the proper usage, IMO. Even IRL, you never hear that someone's kid is "in" the USS Ronald Reagan or the Nimitz. They're stationed "on" them.

I notice you went with articles, there!

Yes, it's not gramatically better, I was just referring there to my own preference and habits. "In" a ship is traditional for the USN, though even in my time 20 years ago it was dying out. But that the salty way to say it would be "When I was in Nimitz..."

--Justin

 

[STIntergalactic]

Whenever I think of Kirk in TOS referring to the 1701, I think of the quote "Kirk to Enterprise" He says it all the time. He never says "Kirk to the Enterprise" So I tend to think of it without the "the".

 

[C.E. Evans]

I agree with the OP - somehow The Enterprise and The Defiant sound right, yet The Voyager sounds wrong to me. I guess it is what I got used to hearing on the shows.

Yep. It's a conditioned response. Had the writers and producers of VOY insisted on calling the ship "the Voyager" everytime, everyone would be used to it being called that way too.

I always refer to ships with "the"--including Voyager . But I do admit that I'm more comfortable referring to NX-01 as simply "Enterprise", but more to distinguish it from the Federation starships with that name than anything else.

 

[SFRabid]

Being from the UK, "the Enterprise" or "the Defiant" sounds much better.

From the people who gave the world "The Beatles" and "The Rolling Stones."



I remember reading an interview where one of THE Beatles was complaning about American radio dropping the "The" when refering to them.

"Our name is THE Beatles!"

 

[Good Will Riker]

Somehow, "The Deep Space Nine" doesn't have a nice ring to it, either.