Why is a ship "She"?

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

In computer science, there is a concept called "operator overloading". An operator is a word that tells the computer to do something. Computer programming languages are made up of operators.

For example:

A = 1 + 2

The equal sign ('=') is an operator. The operation it represents is to store the number that results from adding 1 and 2 together should be stored in the computer under the name 'A'.

But we can also have something like this:

if A = B then return

In this one, the equals sign is still an operator, but it is doing something else now. The operation it performs now is to check if A is equal to B.

This situation, where we can use the '=' to mean either "assign to this name", or "check if these are equal" is called "overloading". The computer language has to find out from context to see which kind of '=' it wants. If this context is missing, the language will not create a computer program. Some computer languages get around this by changing things to make sure no operator is overloaded. Often, the "check for equals" sign is '==', or two equals signs.

How a computer language uses context to figure out what kind of "=" it needs is often an important defining characteristic of the language. Context is hugely important to most of these schemes.

How does this apply to why a ship is "she"?

English is just lousy with what we might call "overloaded words". Two such words are "he" and "she".

"He" is the singular indefinite pronoun in English. If we are referring to just one person, where we do not know for sure who that person is, we refer to them as "he". That person might be a woman, but if we do not know who it is, how can we know for sure. So we say "he". Thus: "When a person gets fired, he can collect unemployment".

"He" also happens to be the masculine personal pronoun. If we know who the person is, and that person is a man, then he is "he".

"He" is overloaded, in computer terms. Confusing. But we can usually figure out what is going on from context.

"She" is the singular pronoun of personification in English. If we are trying to personify a specific object (a ship, vehicle, computer, whatever) that object is "she". Thus: "She may not look like much, but she will float."

"She" also happens to be the feminine personal pronoun. If we know who the person is, and that person is a woman, then he is referred to as "she".

"She" is overloaded too. Again, context is everything.

So, using "she" for every other indefinite pronoun, alternating with "he", just to be fair to the "fairer sex", is confusing. It messes up the context our brain is used to having to determine just what the heck is going on. Every time I see something like "When a person gets fired, she can collect unemployment", I always get this urge to re-scan the pervious text to figure out who the hell this woman is. "She" would refer in that example to a specific woman, and she should have been identified as such previously. (Or subsequently, if you were being mysterious.)

Languages do evolve. The "english" we speak now would not be easily understood by our english-speaking ancestors of 500 years ago. It is hard enough understanding the English spoken by the English even today. Try to refer to an 18-wheel, semi tractor-trailer rig as a "lorry" with a straight face. Or use the word "mate" in place of "man" or "dude". It takes some practice.

Evolution is good. It keeps us relevant. Language IS one of the defining factors of culture. If our culture no longer values this particular rule of English, then the language should change with it.

But the change that may be happening here is often promoted because the use of "he" and "she" are seen as evil, with some nefarious ulterior motive.

And that just isn't so.

Thus the captain greets us: "Welcome to my ship, isn't she a beauty!"