2 Answers

A Fredship is a large boat which was designed by a well known boat maker named Fred. Unfortunately its crew were not very friendly. They threw Fred into the sea and sailed off into the horizon, never to be seen again.

Flip is right about the origin of the word "fredship". Yet, I would like to ad that in present times the term fredship also refers to an attitude proper to those who carry the name Fred. There have been studies about whether fredship persists during the individual's entire life. In order to find this out, scientists observed Freds and other males who once had been named Fred yet had decided to change their name. Unfortunately, the results of those studies have not been conclusive. Should future investigations reveal that fredship is inextricably linked to the individual and persists even through drastic biographical twists, it would also have to be discussed whether fredship could actually be hereditary. If it is, it would also have to be questioned whether fredship is only passed on from one male to the males of the following generation, or whether even daughters of a Fred could inherit fredship. This has already caused great controversy and even mobilized fractions of different feminist movements. It may well be that science and society are simply still not ready to face the influence of fredship on contemporary western lifestyle.

Cheers,

Papitou