yacht

Really? I think it looks snazzy.

I really like this word, and like the pronunciation and everything. But it looks like it feels, and kinda sounds, to throw up.

I don't know why.

See cavalry (oddly enough) for some entertaining alternate spellings of this word.

WOW! Nice riposte and exquisite avoidance of the question! I doff my hat to you, sir.

Well, I'm not wearing one, but if I were, I'd be doffing, by God.

What's the point? When not even death can stop true love, why bother? ;-)

...but what about pirates???

What, every word of that was true! ;-)

You see? The man's an artist.

I am without words, U.

Actually, the word chasing refers to the pursuit of pleasure. Similar to the modern-day pleasure cruise, which is much slower than one might expect from "cruising." Of course the root of such phrases stems from Solomon's book of wisdom, Ecclesiastes, in which he declares that "everything is vanity, a chasing after the wind," inexorably tying the pleasures of the world to the breeze, and by extension, sailboats.

Are you taking uselessness' madeupical etymology course, chained_bear? ;-)

Well, if you're a pirate, you'd naturally want a fast ship. And if you're a king, you'd also want the fastest ship you could get.

Let me pause here for a refreshing break.

"Every ship but your four fastest, you mean."

"Yes, naturally not those four."

Thank you. This break brought to you by the word page dulcet.

And the best way to show off a fast ship, if you're a pirate, is to hunt/catch a whole lotta others. But once the golden age of piracy is over, what's left to do? If you still like fast ships, I guess you need to start having yacht races.

Possibly! The etymology mentions it in reference to "light sailing vessels" used especially for royalty, "fast piratical ships," and those used for hunting. Apparently the meaning shifted at some point to refer to racing craft as well.

That is cool. I wonder if by "chasing" they could also have meant "racing."

It is, isn't it, SoG? I was curious so I checked the etymology. It comes from the Dutch jaght or jacht, as in jaghtschip, which literally meant "ship for chasing." Presumably not a pleasure craft as we think of it nowadays. :-)

What a strange little word this is!