Should "THE" be in the name?

[LakePirate]

a friend and I were discussing the name of his new boat. He wants to name it after his Grandmother. He said he is going to name it "The Mattie Lou". With "The" being printed on the boat. I told him I don't think I have ever seen a boat with "The" on it. He said someone told him if it is named after someone it should have it. Has anyone else ever seen this?

[artbyjody]

Nothing wrong with it - its a matter of personal opinion only. It carries a certain punch, and if your friend likes it - go with it...

[nolatom]

Personally I'd leave it off "The", it's understood when describing the name, doesn't need to be a part of it. Otherwise, technically we'd talk about "the 'The Mary Lou' ", kind of awkward imho.

But it's a free country.

[SEMIJim]

If he included "the" in the name, then, when referring to her, wouldn't he have to say "the The Mattie Lou?" My personal opinion is the "the" should be left off.

Jim

[djodenda]

Don't need the "the"

My wife and I were fighting over the name of our new boat. She wanted "Nautical Lady" and I wanted "Sea Queen".

So, we compromised and settled on "Nau-sea"


Old Flintstones joke.

David

[tommyt]

Hey, if he likes it, why not? Certainly it is not standard, but I think that he will probably figure out that he only needs to use one "the" when referring to her. This is not rocket science.

[uspirate]

I agree with jody, i think it has a certain ring to it and shows definition. "the" makes it the one and only.

[Fstbttms]

I think including the word "The" in a vessel's name is a recent trend (probably within the last 50 years or so), IMHO, mostly due to the fact that as boating becomes something that more and more of the general public becomes involved in, the further from nautical tradition the sport moves. Traditionally, one would not name a boat "The Jane Doe" nor would you even use the word "the" when referring to the boat by name. You would say, for example, "I went aboard Jane Doe last night." (no pun intended ). But language is a dynamic thing and what was consider correct and acceptable 100 years ago is likely to be somewhat different now.

There are ocassions where the use of the word "The" in a boat name is proper. One that always sticks out in my mind is "The Nutmeg of Consolation" from the Aubrey/Maturin series by O'Brien.

[camaraderie]

How about "The Office" ....as in "honey, I'll be working late at the office!

[uspirate]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

How about "The Office" ....as in "honey, I'll be working late at the office!

that's funny. we have a topless bar here called "The Library"...honey i'll be at the Library