# Avoiding "ship" in spacecraft descriptions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810 "2009-10-23T01:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/61 "2009-10-26T20:45:41Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > There could be a whole thread here about common terms that originated from nautical or sailing usage. So many that you might not be able to even write a decent story without using any of them. Good point. I really like the cut of your jib. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/62 "2009-10-26T21:28:11Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Space pirates. > > I mean, come on. _Space pirates?!_ See, the thing tracer is trying to avoid is establishing those ingrained connotations of “ship” that have permeated science fiction for a century. Imagine if someone in 1889 were writing a science fiction novel where the existed vehicles that transported people through the air. Now, “air wagon” or “air train” would bring up one sort of connotation, “airship” another. And it turns out that if the author was writing about zeppelins, “airship” would be a very good term to use, because it unconsciously establishes certain expectations about the craft that are useful. But if the author is imagining biplanes, “airship” gives all sorts of wrong impressions. And coining a new word like “airscrew” or “autoglider” or “ornithopter” will tend to shake the reader out of the unconscious assumptions they’ve made about the vessels and how they work. So the question is, is it worth it? If you’re just telling a story about a plucky second Lieutenant who doesn’t realize how beautiful she is, and the handsome Captain with a mysterious past that she’s forced to work with, then it’s not worth it. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/63 "2009-10-26T21:33:52Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > That’s odd. One of my private-pilot flight instructors said that the surest way to tick off a Navy guy was to ask, “Where’s the front of the boat?” “It’s not a BOAT,” they’ll inevitably retort, “It’s a SHIP! And this is the BOW, and that is the STERN!” Not so much on the carriers. I dunno why. Just is. I have never been on any of the small boys. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/64 "2009-10-26T21:43:05Z")
I’m told submarines are boats, as well. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/65 "2009-10-27T18:59:01Z")
could you call the main ship “home”? Just like you use the word home for the town where you and all your friends were born. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/66 "2009-10-27T19:11:27Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > II suppose you could use the term “vessel”, but this isn’t qualitatively different from “ship” Why? Didn’t “vessel” simply mean “container” before it meant “sea-going craft”? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/67 "2009-10-27T20:31:05Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > See, the thing tracer is trying to avoid is establishing those ingrained connotations of “ship” that have permeated science fiction for a century. > > Imagine if someone in 1889 were writing a science fiction novel where the existed vehicles that transported people through the air. Now, “air wagon” or “air train” would bring up one sort of connotation, “airship” another. And it turns out that if the author was writing about zeppelins, “airship” would be a very good term to use, because it unconsciously establishes certain expectations about the craft that are useful. Well, the problem is that the author is extrapolating on a technology that has existed for 50 years. Modern spaceflight is sort of an offshoot of aviation and naval conventions and may become moreso as vehicles become larger and more “ship” like. It is very much like your author coming up with a name for a giant, fast, long vehicle flying vehicle that is not some variation of existing airships (blimps, dirigibles, Zeppelins, etc.). And the problem from a litterary standpoint is that your audience may not know what the heck you are talking about if you just start making up words. ---
**Author:** ![Kylede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kylede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kylede)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/68 "2009-10-27T21:11:04Z")
I dont know what you are going to call the (mothership), but for the smaller ships, the names should be easy to come by. If it carries people, both “Shuttle” and “bus” are terms used in everyday language that could easily translate. In “Earth” by David Brin, set in 2030, one character, s a space shuttle pilot says her job has simple become the saem as a bus-driver. If it carries cargo any term we use today for a cargo carrying vehicle could work…truck, frieghter, tractor trailer, big-rig, ("cause we got a great big convoy Rockin through the night. Yeah, we got a great big convoy, Aint she a beautiful sight?) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/69 "2009-10-28T02:18:17Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > What analogy is there in the modern world, for example, for an enormous vessel that carries only a few people, and which travels so close to the speed of light that little time passes for its crew despite decades passing for those back on the Earth? Or for a self-contained city that travels not by rockets or warp drives, but by teams of psychic women who guide it through Zorch Space until it materializes right smack-dab at its ultimate destination 30,000 light-years away? OK so then there’s t-babble names: 1. _Dilation Asymptomover; Relativant_ 2. _Transprojectary Habitat; Telepolis_ You can as well use terminology based on the driving technology as shorthand (as mentioned before with “jet” and as also seen in the use of the word “steamer”), so your city projected across timespace by psychics could be just the largest category of _Esperpacket_, which come in small, medium, large and super versions. Or a device that uses hyperspace by going up and down dimensional states like an electron transitioning between quantum states could be a _Quantransiter._ But one can always go for the simple descriptive words like “transport”, for civilian uses, “fight platform” for military, “probe platform” for explorers, “habitat” for self-contained ecosystems; then to these you may add the t-babble qualifiers. You can also only use that full name rarely and the rest of the time use the shorthand or in-world slang. Thus a heavily armed military Quantum Dimensional Transitioner becomes a “Wartransiter”. Then again few have ever laughed at someone for using the words “vessel” or “craft”… and lots of times authors have distracted and confused the audience with made-up terms. One has to be careful how one writes it to avoid sounding silly. Really, for the smaller conveyances that would be moving around more or less in orbital scale, something like \*shuttle, jig, ride \*or _stage,_ should be acceptable. They could also be called _“a ute”_, short for “utility conveyance”. A cargo ute, a VIP ute, a strike (armed) ute, a medevac ute. No need to think that it’ll be something unrecognizable in function. ---
**Author:** ![Johnigomasand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Johnigomasand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnigomasand)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/70 "2016-10-07T18:09:57Z")
Just call it spacecraft. That’s what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/71 "2016-10-07T18:24:09Z")
I prefer _mervin’ glorb_. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/72 "2016-10-07T18:29:58Z")
> [@Johnigomasand](#): > > Just call it spacecraft. That’s what it is. Piloted by zombies, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/73 "2016-10-07T18:59:56Z")
Zombies IN SPACE, no less. Seriously though - an interesting thread and a lot of good ideas and thoughts going around. I like the techno-babble naming conceit myself, if I’m trying to avoid a specific connotation. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/74 "2016-10-07T20:25:56Z")
You could avoid the problem by using a made up name. I suggest a Joule after Jules Verne. Or name it after their method of FTL travel like a Warpster. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/75 "2016-10-08T05:22:01Z")
Acronym (LM) or branding name like … ‘Apollo’. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/76 "2016-10-08T06:02:19Z")
Gig, runabout, outboard, cigarette; clipper, schooner, cutter, sloop, brig, corvette; pup, snipe, camel; shrike, merlin, roc, kestrel, peregrine; Jenny, Spad, Nieuport; Hunter, Archer, Bull, Bear, Scorpion, Lynx, Raven, Phoenix, Centaur; Styx… ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/77 "2016-10-08T06:21:18Z")
I like ‘dreadnought’. ---
**Author:** ![Willcross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Willcross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willcross)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/78 "2016-10-08T13:34:08Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I just thought of another one: > > Astrosphere (like a bathysphere, but astro). Gives more of an impression of a habitate than a ship in space. It’s been seven years, by I really like this. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/79 "2016-10-08T14:14:18Z")
Aerostats, for stations floating in the atmospheres of gas giants. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810/80 "2016-10-08T14:51:36Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Piloted by zombies, no doubt. Damn, what does a man have to do to kill a thread around here and leave it killed? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-ship-in-spacecraft-descriptions/514810.md?page=5)