What's in a name?
When a good looking yacht is at the dock, it seems to be a rule that every tourist walking past her has to ask a silly question.
The top 3 of silly questions we get is the following:
- How much is that boat worth? (too much for you is almost always the right answer)
- Who owns that boat? (actually, the Queen of England does. What do you mean, you don't believe us?)
- What is a Tilly Mint exactly? (it's a furry little animal that lives in the mountains of Scotland, what, you mean you've never seen one?)
It is true that Tilly Mint is an unusual name for a yacht, even though there actually is another Tilly Mint sailing around (an Oyster 82 that looks quite similar to us, which sometimes causes some confusion). The good part about having an atypical name is that people usually remember it. The bad part is that no one, and by that I mean no one, is ever capable of understanding it over the VHF or the phone. Even spelling it isn't always enough, and the result is often funny, sometimes even puzzling (how did you get THIS from Tilly Mint?!). Here are some of the names that we have been called in the past:
Willy Mint (no, William is the Captain)
Jelly Mint (can you eat that?)
Tilly Mist (is that part of the weather forecast for tomorrow?)
Tally Man (pronounced with a rasta accent)
Tiny Mint (she's not that small, is she?)
Talisman (that's a motoryacht name, no thanks)
I find that the most efficient way to spell the name is to start with spelling out Tilly and pray that it will get through, and then to tell them "Mint", you know, like what you put in a mojito. That usually works.
Then there are the people who think they are being funny, like one of the dockhands in Falmouth Harbor who offers us a mint (he always carries some in his pocket) every time we see him, which is about 10 times a day. At least we hope the reason for it is the name of the boat, and not a bad breath problem...
Some people like the strange local rasta that seems to live in the Dockside market in Antigua, or our laundry man in St Martin, have started calling me Tilly as if it were my name, and love yelling it while raising their arms every time I see them.
So now you might ask, what does Tilly Mint actually mean? Here is the definition I found online: "Scouse term of endearment. Female equivalent of 'Dickie Mint'". Basically, a nice nickname for a cheeky little girl - sounds like our Tilly Mint indeed!
The top 3 of silly questions we get is the following:
- How much is that boat worth? (too much for you is almost always the right answer)
- Who owns that boat? (actually, the Queen of England does. What do you mean, you don't believe us?)
- What is a Tilly Mint exactly? (it's a furry little animal that lives in the mountains of Scotland, what, you mean you've never seen one?)
It is true that Tilly Mint is an unusual name for a yacht, even though there actually is another Tilly Mint sailing around (an Oyster 82 that looks quite similar to us, which sometimes causes some confusion). The good part about having an atypical name is that people usually remember it. The bad part is that no one, and by that I mean no one, is ever capable of understanding it over the VHF or the phone. Even spelling it isn't always enough, and the result is often funny, sometimes even puzzling (how did you get THIS from Tilly Mint?!). Here are some of the names that we have been called in the past:
Willy Mint (no, William is the Captain)
Jelly Mint (can you eat that?)
Tilly Mist (is that part of the weather forecast for tomorrow?)
Tally Man (pronounced with a rasta accent)
Tiny Mint (she's not that small, is she?)
Talisman (that's a motoryacht name, no thanks)
I find that the most efficient way to spell the name is to start with spelling out Tilly and pray that it will get through, and then to tell them "Mint", you know, like what you put in a mojito. That usually works.
Then there are the people who think they are being funny, like one of the dockhands in Falmouth Harbor who offers us a mint (he always carries some in his pocket) every time we see him, which is about 10 times a day. At least we hope the reason for it is the name of the boat, and not a bad breath problem...
Some people like the strange local rasta that seems to live in the Dockside market in Antigua, or our laundry man in St Martin, have started calling me Tilly as if it were my name, and love yelling it while raising their arms every time I see them.
So now you might ask, what does Tilly Mint actually mean? Here is the definition I found online: "Scouse term of endearment. Female equivalent of 'Dickie Mint'". Basically, a nice nickname for a cheeky little girl - sounds like our Tilly Mint indeed!
Comments
Post a Comment