"Crew" is NOT a Verb!

Emily and I went on a DC monument boat cruise on Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful day to be out on the Potomac and it was kind of interesting to hear the narration about the various sites as we motored between Alexandria and Georgetown. I thought it was nice that they mentioned Thompson Boat Center (a favorite club of scullers in the DC area) and I wondered if they would mention the Alexandria Community Boathouse on the way back. They did: "... a gift from the city of Alexandria to the T.C. Williams crew team. T.C. Williams has one of the finest high school crewing programs in the country..."

CREWING PROGRAMS!? This has got to stop. I appreciate that rowing is not a "major" sport with a significant fan following. I admit that the terminology is esoteric and mastering it takes significant exposure to the sport. But this is fundamental: Rowers ROW. They don't CREW. They are not CREWERS and they do not spend their mornings CREWING. The only thing more obnoxious than having a non-rower use "crew" as a verb, is when they do it in conjunction with that weird arm flailing that is supposed to signify rowing.

Now, I understand the confusion. Ask most high school or college rowers what they do with their time and they'll respond, "I'm on the crew team." Even the term "crew team" is an affront to the purist, who demands these organizations be called "rowing teams." But "crew team," or referring to the sport of rowing as "crew" has won a battle of attrition and worked its way into acceptable rowing vernacular. In addition, the use of the word "crew" as a verb is technically correct when it's definition is limited to "participating as a member of a crew or team in the activities related to the operation of a boat, yacht or ship." So if I were to say that I crewed an eight in college, that's a legitimate use of the word. As long as I mean that I was one of eight rowers who participated in the operation of the boat. But if I'm referring to act of propelling a shell in a race through the act of rowing, "crewed" no longer applies. Once I intend to convey the specific action of rowing, only the word "rowing" is correct.

In sailing, participants use the word "crew" as verb much more frequently than in rowing. As in, "I crewed an America's Cup yacht last year." But if you asked the speaker what they were doing on that America's cup yacht, they would say "sailing."

Ok, so maybe the subject is a little convoluted. And as folks who enjoy the sport, we can correct the misguided crew-speak of our friends and family. But when a popular recreational provider like the Potomac Riverboat Company (PRC) includes the word "crewing" 10 or more time a day in their narration and in front of hundreds of uninformed tourists, it just makes the situation that much worse. So I'm calling on the PRC and all tour operators in the Alexandria area to clean up your narrations and be a part of the the fight to stop one of America's most troubling grammatical issues: The improper use of "crew" as a verb.