ship names

[gfish]

For some reason, I have always wondered what I would name a sailing ship. It just seemed like I should have a name ready, just in case. Reading The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649 - 1815, I think I have finally found the proper name.

In the 17th century, Britain fought a series of naval wars against the Dutch. Not much came out of any of them, mostly because the Dutch weren't very organized and the British were pretty dumb about naval strategy. The Dutch were odd critters back then, motivated by commerce, led by a weak central republican government and boasting a very tolerant policy towards religion and a very modern banking system. (Which is why they were so successful, of course.) The British and the French tended to look down on them, and always assumed that, in the next war, the cowardly Dutch merchants would be crushed by their gallant gentlemen warriors.

In response to this ridiculous snobbery, in the Third Dutch War at least 3 Dutch privateers were named 'Getergde Kaasboer'.

The Provoked Cheesemonger.

Comments

[mholmesiv.livejournal.com]

My dual translating mind's afrikaans section automatically saw it as "Person who makes cheese". That may be because in South Africa, the word Boer was expanded to mean, essentially, "dutch person". The english side of my brain read it as "cheese farmer" because it does a more literal translation.

I was watching Millionaire a few years back, and the question was "What famous ghost ship was named "die vliegende hollander"?". The automatic translation units I had installed at school kicked in and I didn't even notice he had named it in dutch. The person sat there looking unsure and I was incredibly confused, since he had given her the answer! It wasn't until my wife looked over and said "That's dutch, dear" that I realised that the person had no idea what the words meant. (The Flying Dutchman, for anyone else in the same predicament)

[memegarden.livejournal.com]

I just had the same confusion reading your comment.

polyglots rule!

[callibr8]

the question was "What famous ghost ship was named "die vliegende hollander"?". The automatic translation units I had installed at school kicked in

I too auto-translated that, but I think I had an easier time of it because I was reading your text, not having to pick it up just from hearing the words spoken. Heh.