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February 11, 2005

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. Is that car you drive a "she," a "he" or an "it"? How about your computer? The nation you live in? That baby being pushed in a carriage along the street?

    A. Many nouns are given variable gender, depending on whether they're thought of in an intimate way, such as vehicles or countries — "she can reach 60 in 5 seconds," "France has increased her exports" — says David Crystal in "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language." Pets are often "he" or "she" though an anonymous baby may become "it." It is not obvious why some entities are personified and others not, or why female personifications are used with guns, tanks and trucks. Certainly anger, aggression and other typical gender stereotyping are not the clues here.


     
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