# The Difference between a Boat and a Ship **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407 "2008-09-26T23:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BeamReacher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BeamReacher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeamReacher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/41 "2012-05-23T16:40:33Z")
Nobody has commented on the second half of Cecil’s post, re: mountains vs. hills. I grew up half a mile from Mountain Road, which was hilarious since it was maybe 20 miles long and went through mostly flat land at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, at least a hundred miles from any mountains. The premise of “The Englishman who Walked Up A Hill and Came Down Mountain” was that the British surveyors considered anything under 1000 feet a hill, but over that was a mountain. It was such a point of local pride that the Welsh inhabitants started carting wheelbarrows of dirt up the hill to build the peak back up from 986 feet into mountain status. As for ship vs. boat, the guy who taught me sailing defined a ship as an ocean-going vessel over 150 feet in length. That definition would leave out the Nina/Pinta/Santa Maria, plus much of the British and French navy circa 1800, plus all vessels on the Great Lakes. Since I’m just a pleasure boater, though, I’ll defer to those other posters who make their living on the sea. Beam ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/42 "2012-05-24T12:42:13Z")
> [@BeamReacher](#): > > Nobody has commented on the second half of Cecil’s post, re: mountains vs. hills. I grew up half a mile from Mountain Road, which was hilarious since it was maybe 20 miles long and went through mostly flat land at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, at least a hundred miles from any mountains. > > The premise of “The Englishman who Walked Up A Hill and Came Down Mountain” was that the British surveyors considered anything under 1000 feet a hill, but over that was a mountain. It was such a point of local pride that the Welsh inhabitants started carting wheelbarrows of dirt up the hill to build the peak back up from 986 feet into mountain status. > > As for ship vs. boat, the guy who taught me sailing defined a ship as an ocean-going vessel over 150 feet in length. That definition would leave out the Nina/Pinta/Santa Maria, plus much of the British and French navy circa 1800, plus all vessels on the Great Lakes. Since I’m just a pleasure boater, though, I’ll defer to those other posters who make their living on the sea. > > Beam well as someone who has spent a lot of time in the Rockies I can at least answer for the USA. Mountains are what the Rockies have a hill is what they have back east 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/43 "2012-05-24T17:39:44Z")
> [@](#): > > As for ship vs. boat, the guy who taught me sailing defined a ship as an ocean-going vessel over 150 feet in length. That definition would leave out the Nina/Pinta/Santa Maria, plus much of the British and French navy circa 1800, plus all vessels on the Great Lakes. Are you sure? There are some mighty big freighters on the Great Lakes. The [Edmund Fitzgerald](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald), for instance, was 729 feet long. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/44 "2012-05-24T19:01:05Z")
Yes, but it operated on “fresh” water, not the oceans. Therefore, by **BeamReacher** ’s definition, it was a boat. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/45 "2012-05-24T21:28:15Z")
Wow, I sure sound like an ass up there. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/46 "2012-05-24T21:32:18Z")
All ships are boats\*, but not all boats are ships. I’d say if it needs a full time crew to run it, it’s a ship. \*unless you count spaceships 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/47 "2012-05-24T21:43:30Z")
> [@BeamReacher](#): > > Nobody has commented on the second half of Cecil’s post, re: mountains vs. hills… I grew up in the northwest with various mountain ranges and mountains. When I was in England (the Lake district I think) someone said something about the mountain…I looked around and said “what mountain?” ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/48 "2012-05-25T16:04:41Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Wow, I sure sound like an ass up there. It’s amazing how often I think that when you look back at things I did years ago. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/49 "2012-05-25T16:06:45Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > All ships are boats\*… > > \*unless you count spaceships 😛 What about in this case [http://carsties.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/space-ship.jpg](http://carsties.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/space-ship.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![itfitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/59ef9b/32.png) [@itfitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/itfitz)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/50 "2012-05-29T02:31:36Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Wow, I sure sound like an ass up there. You pretty much blah-blah-blahed me away from the SDMB for the past four years too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/51 "2012-05-29T15:51:16Z")
I think the problem here may be that there are really two english words “boat”. One means all floating things that are man-made and carry passengers, cargo, or both. One means the subset thereof that is smallish, has a hull (as opposed to rafts, for instance), and other criteria I can’t think of just yet. The first is used FAR less commonly than the second, and when it is used folks tend to add the word “technically” to make it clear they are using it. As in, “A raft is technically a boat”. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407/52 "2012-05-29T16:13:58Z")
> [@BeamReacher](#): > > Nobody has commented on the second half of Cecil’s post, re: mountains vs. hills. I grew up half a mile from Mountain Road, which was hilarious since it was maybe 20 miles long and went through mostly flat land at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, at least a hundred miles from any mountains. I had noticed that such words often get different usages depending on the area, and what one could compare it to. My father was from central New York, I grew up in northeast Connecticut. Avon Mountain, in Avon Connecticut, is only 950 feet high and only 700 feet higher than the surrounding country. It is also one of the tallest things as far as the eye can see. There was a “Hill” near my father’s childhood home that was taller, and a bigger rise from the river valley, but when you can see the Adirondacks, which are real mountains, it looks small. We had four “rivers” in town, each was shallow and narrow. Some got to 6 or 8 feet deep in spots, but usually one could wade and not get one’s crotch wet. I saw a guy use a running start and jump across one of them at a narrow spot, so well under 20 feet just there. In contrast, New York has several “creeks” that I doubt could be jumped by Evil Knevil. But they also have rivers that are over a mile wide. In CT, we had “creeks” that were small bodies of moving water you could step across, and “streams” that were wider but still small. In NY, they called all such things “cricks”. And now to add to the list of ponderables: pond versus lake? I’ve seen “lakes” that were knee-deep and too small to play football on. I’ve seen “ponds” that one could grow sore trying to walk around. Is there an actual distinction? Or is it like the difference between “dialect” and “separate language”: no recognized differentiation, and basically arbitrary? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-boat-and-a-ship/465407.md?page=2)