#this ties into what i found where calling a narrowboat a barge is an insult to the owner

[divinekangaroo]

my stray headcanon:

tommy *constantly* misgenders (mis-sexes?) horses because him and his whole family including Uncle Charlie have this weird complicated mental matrix for how and when a horse is a 'he' or 'she' or 'it' based around the equally complex gendering conventions for narrowboats

which convention, from what I can tell by reading multiple narrowboat forums and at least one 16th century four page long complaint letter about indecency on narrowboats some landowner wrote to a canal company, runs something like this:

do you like the guy who owns the boat? y = the boat is she, n = the boat is it

do you think the boat is poor quality = it, but be aware this may be offensive to the owner and start a fight

is the boat in the process of being built and hasn't got hisself wet yet? = he, then he's a she after it's first run

is the boat built by this one particular Welsh dude who lives in [insert Welsh river hamlet name}? y = always a she no matter how you feel about the boat or its wet status

is the boat built by the other particular Scottish dude who lives in [random hated English hamlet name)? y = always a he unless you've actually been on the boat, then it's an it, unless it was a really good road (every lock in your favour) in which case the boat is an honorary she

was a baby born on the boat = she

is it your boat = she

is it your friend's boat = he because it might offend your friend

did the boat once go through some random tunnel = he until he goes through the tunnel again and becomes a she