Odd names still float

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” William Shakespeare uses this line in his play Romeo and Juliet to convey that the naming of things is irrelevant.

But not everybody agrees with Shakespeare, and I know of two professional sports teams and a ski resort that have been renamed as they were deemed offensive.

In our evolving society, we are getting more conscious about words and their meaning, and it got me thinking about one design class names. Some have been around awhile, and I wonder how these names stuck:

• Buccaneer: A pirate, originally off the Spanish-American coasts.
• 420: Cannabis culture slang for marijuana and hashish consumption.
• Flying Dutchman: A legendary ghost ship which was said to never be able to make port, doomed to sail the oceans forever.
• Flying Tiger: The nickname of U.S. fighter pilots, the American Volunteer Group (AVG), who fought against the Japanese in China during World War II.
• Highlander: A Gael inhabiting the Highlands of Scotland.
• Hustler: A person who makes money by doing something dishonest.
• Mermaid: A fabled marine creature with the head and upper body of a human being and the tail of a fish.
• Optimist: A person who looks on the bright side of things.
• Paper Tiger: A person or thing that appears threatening but is ineffectual.
• Rebel: A person who rises in opposition or armed resistance against an established government or ruler.
• Streaker: Someone who engages in streaking, purposely appearing and running nude in public.
• Tempest: A violent windy storm.
• Wood Pussy: American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled (aka, skunk).

Are these offensive? Are there other oddball class names? Send feedback to editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com.