# on the report "What's the Origin of 'Ahoy'?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 17, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-report-whats-the-origin-of-ahoy/489810 "2009-03-17T23:05:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saltamonte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@saltamonte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saltamonte)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-report-whats-the-origin-of-ahoy/489810/1 "2009-03-17T23:05:57Z")
[The report](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2027/whats-the-origin-of-ahoy) mentions that the word “could also be used as a verb, meaning ‘to call out “ahoy!”’ The OED cites, ‘She ahoys the schooner.’” There is something curious about the actual [OED entry for the word](http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50004810): as v. To call ahoy. (Cf. to hurrah, halloo.) **1881** _Century Mag. XXIII. 54_ ‘Schooner ahoy!’ says a voice from the shore, and she _ahoys_. (italics added)In the quote, ‘she’ seems to refer, not to a person, but rather to the schooner. In that case, the verb ‘ahoy’ could refer to an action, something done by (or to) a boat. I don’t know what that action would be, exactly. It could be anything from “look over here” to “put by so I can come aboard” to “veer off before you smash our dinghy, ye scurvy bilge rats!” Or something else. Any thoughts? Salt (but not much of a sea salt) ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-report-whats-the-origin-of-ahoy/489810/2 "2009-03-17T23:18:40Z")
I would think it just means someone on the schooner calling ahoy in response. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-report-whats-the-origin-of-ahoy/489810/3 "2009-03-18T09:56:18Z")
I think it’s nearly impossible to tell what is meant by the sentence out of context. Unless someone can find a copy of that magazine and give us the context of that sentence, it’s not possible to say what the word “she” refers to. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-report-whats-the-origin-of-ahoy/489810/4 "2009-03-18T11:20:36Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I think it’s nearly impossible to tell what is meant by the sentence out of context. Unless someone can find a copy of that magazine and give us the context of that sentence, it’s not possible to say what the word “she” refers to. > **[Scribner's Monthly](https://books.google.com/books?id=QDqgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA54&dq=%22schooner+ahoy%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1881&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=1882&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&hl=en)** ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-report-whats-the-origin-of-ahoy/489810/5 "2009-03-18T11:41:29Z")
Thanks, samclem. Looking at the pages around the quoted sentence, it doesn’t appear that there is any mention of a woman being on a boat. The author does seem to have the habit of referring to boats as “she.” It does then look like “she” in the sentence quoted in the OED refers to the boat. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-report-whats-the-origin-of-ahoy/489810/6 "2009-03-18T18:33:45Z")
I noticed that the word _ahoys_ in that article is italicized, and is the only non-proper noun that is. Anyone know why it’s italicized? ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-report-whats-the-origin-of-ahoy/489810/7 "2009-03-19T11:11:06Z")
The impression it gives to me, Bootis, is that the author is deliberately using it in an unusual way. It could have been written “and she ‘ahoys’” but then it looks like a quotation. The word is being used as a verb here, but said use may in fact be novel for the time period. Either way, Dex should update the column with the correct phrase from the OED. Powers &8^]