The boat was low to the water. - What does it mean? Does it mean that only a small part of the boat was under water? Or does it mean that the boat deck was near the water level? Or something else? Thanks a lot for your help.
2 Answers
I can see why you'd be confused here.
The boat being low to the water would look like this (excuse the poor drawing - this is the extent of my drawing abilities):
This, in contrast, is a boat that is not low to the water:
The boat that is "low to the water" has its upper rim close to the level of the water. In other words, it has sunken in more. This could happen if the load of the boat is heavier, for example.
"Low in the water" is a much more common choice, but "low to the water" seems to be a possible options as well. I would prefer "low in the water," as "low to the water" isn't quite as common as the other usage, especially in regular conversation.
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1I think that's what the writer probably meant, but it's a strange phrase to my ear. I would expect to see that boat called low in the water, not low to the water.– stangdonCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 21:16
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@stangdon low in the water sounds more like what I would say when on a boat with a friend or uncle. Low to the water is more for storying telling and setting a scene, to me.– Alex KCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 23:58
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@AlexK A native speaker would say "low in the water" in any case.– MetaEdCommented Nov 12, 2015 at 0:33
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@MετάEd I agree with you. I would say "low in the water" every time. The only place I would imagine this would be in a written narrative that is in a more formal style. See the link I added to my answer to see the frequency of both phrases.– Alex KCommented Nov 12, 2015 at 0:38
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1@MετάEd I think it may be mixing between "low to the ground," and "low in the water." "Low in the water" makes more sense, as the boat is actually in the water, but at the same time, if you're talking about the actual level of the water, I can see why somebody could write "low to the water." Either way, both are using according to the Google n-gram.– Alex KCommented Nov 12, 2015 at 0:42
SUPPLEMENTAL TO ALEX K's answer (upvote his answer, not this one!)
I'm not an expert on maritime usage, my knowledge being mostly confined to Hornblower and Aubrey novels. But I would have said that although both expressions versions express what Alex K describes, a boat whose height above the water is unusually small —
low in the water is what linguists call a "stage-level predicate": a temporary attribute of the boat. It describes a vessel whose freeboard (the height of the hull) above the water is lower than usual, presumably because the vessel is heavily laden.
low to the water is an "individual-level predicate", a permanent attribute of the boat. It describes a vessel whose freeboard and superstructure are less elevated than those of other vessels of the same sort.
taller. The OP's phrase is colloquial, and its structure can't be generalized to other instances.