shippiness

English

Etymology

shippy +‎ -ness

Noun

shippiness (uncountable)

1. The state or quality of being a ship or like a ship.
   • 1972, John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic, page 454:

     Highly polished rosewood, ebony and brass; a main saloon with walls "pierced by rows of high, narrow, round-headed windows, outlined with rims of polished brass," gave the Bremen a marine look, a "shippiness" that ran directly counter to the cozy house-in-the-country look of British ships and the vacuously empty hotel-lobby atmosphere of the American liners.

   • 1978, Country Life, volume 164, page 312:

     The Fairways Trawler, however, reflects the same "shippiness" in her appearance and sports a wheelhouse which would not disgrace a real trawler.

   • 2003, Libby Purves, Casting Off, unnumbered page:

     Oh, this boat, this familiar boat! She felt a surge of love for it, for its compact practicality, its orderly shippiness, its dutiful precision, its homely solid shelter against the storm.

2. (fandom slang) The state or quality of being shippy.
   • 1997 February 11, KSJ, “Momento Spoilers”, in alt.tv.x-files‎^[1] (Usenet):

     My first thought as a shipper, and even the list admin of the XF Romantics mailing list which is dedicated to shippers, is to crow about the "shippiness" in this episode.

   • 1999 March 10, Michael P. Walsh, “Re: Arcadia ratings”, in alt.tv.x-files‎^[2] (Usenet):

     I don't believe "shippiness" either helps or hurts the X-Files ratings.

   • 2000 December 20, Jane, “Re: Doggoneit Be Gone”, in alt.tv.x-files‎^[3] (Usenet):

     One could theorize that shippiness can 'ruin' an episode because it takes some people's focus away from the main story even if it doesn't alter the main story.