Найдено у Агаты Кристи
Как–то так вышло, что я давно знал, что можно использовать 'she' и 'her' по отношению к машинам и кораблям. Спросил одного англичанина, мол, что за такое. Он отозвался "А как по другому?" и показал как он машину поглаживает, приговаривая: She, Beauty и проч.
Но вот в Death Comes As The End (wiki, там спойлер!; goodreads) нашёл:
Look, Renisenb. Look out from here across the valley to the River and beyond. That is Egypt, our land. Broken by war and strife for many long years, divided into petty kingdoms, but now — very soon — to come together and form once more a united land — Upper and Lower Egypt once again welded into one — I hope and believe to recover her former greatness!
Выгуглил, что про такое 'her' Wikipedia сообщает:
Inanimate objects with which humans have a close relationship, such as ships, cars and countries considered as political, rather than geographical, entities, are sometimes referred to using feminine pronouns such as she and her.[7] This may also be extended to other entities, such as towns.
А на thefreedictionary.com пишут:
Countries and vehicles, especially ships or boats, will sometimes be given a feminine form when spoken of in the third person. For example:
__ “The SS Freedom is a good ship. She has certainly seen her fair share of adventure.”
__ “The Prime Minister promised that the United Kingdom would be returned to her former glory during his term.”
This is a more traditional usage; it is less common these days, and by no means necessary. Some style guides go so far as to discourage its use.
Об уходе от traditional usage сообщают также Cambridge Dictionary и Lingolia.
А теперь вишенка!
Цитата из The Hollow (wiki, там спойлер!), 1946 год:
For Henrietta loved cars. She spoke of cars with the lyrical intensity that other people gave to Spring, or the first snowdrop.
"Isn't he a beauty, John? Doesn't he just purr along? (For Henrietta's cars were always masculine.) He'll do Bale Hill in third–not straining at all–quite effortlessly. Listen to the even way he ticks over."
Неплохо, правда?
PS. Картинка взята из She never went to school: 126 remarkable Agatha Christie facts.
PS2. Вам может быть интересен и вот этот пост: Британское наследие в Indian English и Агата Кристи.
Написал ivsetaki на english.d3.ru / комментировать