The word yacht has
a Dutch and Flemish origin. Although it is now of course commonly
used to describe both motor and sailing yachts, it is one
of those frustrating words that almost seems impossible to
spell, unless you know for sure.
Dutch, like English,
is one of the Germanic languages, and thus part of the Indo-European
family. It stands about midway between English and German
and is the closest to English of any of the major languages.
Long a maritime
nation, the Dutch have left their imprint on many languages
of the world. Many Dutch nautical terms have been adopted
into other languages. Dutch idioms and syntax are still evident
in present-day Indonesian. English words of Dutch origin include
yacht, deck and freight.
The incorrect ways
yacht is normally spelt are as follows:
And of course their
plural versions
We are quite often
asked the following questions:
- Do you sell used yahts? - "Only used used motor yachts
/ motoryachts!"
- Can we buy a luxury used yahts from yourselves? - No,
but you could buy a used luxury motor yacht / motoryacht!"
- Do you have motor used yahts? - "No, but we do have
used motor yachts / motoryachts!"
- Where can I find Yahts for sale - "Unfortunately,
not through us!"
- Are Princess power yahts? - "Well sort of, they are
really power yachts!"
- Do you have new Yahts for sale? - "Only motor yachts
/ motoryachts from the Princess range!"
- Do you do Yaht sales and service? - "Yes, our sales
and service covers the Princess range"
- Are Princess luxury yahts? - "Yes, they are luxury,
but not yahts!"
- Do you have used motor yahcts for sale? - "Yes we
have used motor yachts / motoryachts for sale"
- Do you sell Princess yahts? - "Yes we sell new and
used Princess motor yachts / motoryachts!"
- Are you a Yaht trader? - "Only a motor yacht / motoryacht
trader!"
Obviously, the above
all have spelling mistakes in the questions, but they are
ones we are use to, so don't worry if you can't remember how
to spell that annoying word!
