I’m writing Book Two in the Gambler’s Inheritance trilogy. It occurs just after WWII. I’ve been doing some research and wanted to share something I just happened upon in the research sites I’ve looked at. I like the sound of this word so I wanted to share it. We’ve all heard of the submarines the Germans used in WWI and WWII and we’ve all called them U boats. Have you ever seen the German word for them? It’s a great word. It’s Unterseeboot. It means under sea boat. So easy. How cool is it that a German word is so easily translated to English?
In English, we call our own under sea boats submarines and the German ones U boats. In German, they call ours the same thing they call theirs. Same kind of boat, same name. I think I know why we differentiate ours. Or I have an opinion anyway (shocking, I know, that I have an opinion). What do you think is the reason?
Jillian Chantal 
Unterseeboot sounds much more sensible than submarine, don’t you think? Why do we always try to complicate names?
By: Laurie Ryan on September 23, 2011
at 11:30 am
I don’t know why we complicate but I’m guessing it’s ’cause we can. Of course sub in Latin is under and marine refers to water, so it kind of makes sense.
By: Jillian Chantal on September 23, 2011
at 11:35 am
I like the word submarine. I guess because of the image it creates in my head. 😉
By: Ciara Knight on September 23, 2011
at 1:46 pm
When I hear submarine, I always think of one of two things: Ringo Starr singing Yellow Submarine or The Hunt for Red October movie.
By: Jillian Chantal on September 23, 2011
at 1:50 pm
Oh my gosh, I was just going to say the same thing about the song “Yellow Submarine”. That dang thing gets in my head and runs around for awhile before it grows silent again.
I think calling the boat a submarine and U boat is just in keeping with the American need for nicknames and slang. We assign names to about everything.
By: Lavada Dee on September 24, 2011
at 11:48 am
I know what you mean, Lavada, it’s been in mine off and on since I wrote this post! LOL!
By: Jillian Chantal on September 24, 2011
at 12:34 pm