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Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> Aidan Kehoe wrote:
> > Ar an cúigiú lá is fiche de mí na Nollaig, scríobh Peter T. Daniels:
> >
> > > "Boot" isn't the ordinary word for 'boat', is it? Or how could it be
> > > the name of that movie?
> >
> > submarine /sʌbmə'rɪːn, 'sʌbməriːn/ 1. n. Unterseeboot, das; U-Boot, das.
> > 2. adj. Unterwasser-; unterseeisch (Geol.); submarin (fachspr.); submarine
> > warfare U-Boot-Krieg, der
> >
> > Boot /boːt/ das; Boot[e]s, Boote boat; wir sitzen alle in einem od. im
> > selben Boot (fig. ugs.) we're all in the same boat
>
> So we have a calqued proverb. That doesn't tell us about the ordinary
> usage of the word.
My admittedly poor German knows _Boot_ as the ordinary word for "boat",
and my dictionary does nothing to dispel the conviction.
>
> > Marine terminology in German tends to be closer to English than other areas
> > of the former language’s vocabulary, in my experience. The High German sound
> > shift is less relevant, and there seems to have been a mild Sprachbund
> > effect involving Dutch as well. (Is that your experience, Ruud?)
>
> A sub movie in English wouldn't be called "The Boat."
If it were set before submarines got big enough to have names and the
prefix "HMS", "USS", etc, it certainly could be. Even named submarines
were "boats", since "submarine boat" was the original formal term, and
they were always called "boats", not "ships". We've AUEed the elevation
to nounship of the word "submarine" before -- even OED noticed us doing
it.
--
Mike.
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