Yacht

As in “Buffy and I took the yacht out to the island this morning.”

A yacht is a type of light water craft that wayyyy back in the day was favored by pirates.  Small and quick they were perfect for coastal raiding and quick strikes at sea. The name comes from the Dutch word jachten  which means “to hunt”.

in 1660 Holland presented the English King Charles II with a yacht named Mary. It was 100 tons, carried eight cannon and was given to celebrate the restoration of the English monarchy. It was at the precise time that the word entered the English language. There are not many times when you can actually point to the exact entrance of such a word, that alone makes it kind of cool. The pirate connection adds a little also and provides the military connection. Hmmm… makes you wonder what the Minnow was really doing on that three hour tour…