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When we use the phrase the water's edge are we referring to the water from the vantage point of the land? Can a person in a rowboat, while he is in the middle of a lake, say "I am now going to bring the boat to the water's edge"?

P.S. I ask this question in the spirit of the conversation between Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford, where Ford is trying to explain to Conrad the difference between penniless and without a penny.

Edit: I'm not referring to the figurative use of the term as in "politics ends at the water's edge"

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TimR
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    I always took it literally; as in where the water meets land (i.e. the shore) – Inazuma Mar 30 '16 at 09:08
  • With no implied vantage point? – TimR Mar 30 '16 at 09:10
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    I'd have said it's from the vantage point of the land, Tim. What else does the water share an edge with? – John Clifford Mar 30 '16 at 09:12
  • I think so too, John. But please reread my question. The "what else" addendum to your comment is not germane. – TimR Mar 30 '16 at 09:13
  • @NVZ: I am referring to the literal locative meaning. – TimR Mar 30 '16 at 09:23
  • Please focus on the precise question I ask, i.e. "Can a person in a rowboat, in the middle of a lake, say...." – TimR Mar 30 '16 at 09:26
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    @NVZ - the problem is that a literal meaning of "water's edge" would be GR. –  Mar 30 '16 at 09:57
  • Guys, respectfully, there's no way from my question, with its man-in-a-rowboat example, that you should be thinking in figurative terms. – TimR Mar 30 '16 at 10:07
  • @TimRomano - how does the "penniless/without a penny" reference fit into the picture? –  Mar 30 '16 at 10:11
  • @Josh61: that was a discussion between two authors about nuanced differences that would not be apparent from dictionary definitions. – TimR Mar 30 '16 at 10:13
  • I am not asking what the phrase refers to (general reference) but whether, when this phrase is used, the reference is made from a particular vantage point. As my question about the man in the rowboat makes clear. – TimR Mar 30 '16 at 10:14
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    @TimRomano - not my downvote, but I do think the question is unclear. Checking with Ngram, the expression appears to be used more in the figurative sense. https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=water%27s+edge&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cwater%20%27s%20edge%3B%2Cc0 –  Mar 30 '16 at 10:18
  • I will ask this over on Language Learners where there is a richer tag-set to choose from. I think we could add "deixis" tag. – TimR Mar 30 '16 at 10:22
  • @TimRomano You have enough rep to create tags yourself. If you do, please check that there isn't an existing one which might be synonymised, and do create the tag wiki (excerpt and full entry). – Andrew Leach Mar 30 '16 at 10:33
  • You could say it, and it would be syntactically valid and meaningful, but a bit confusing. Far more idiomatic is to "bring the boat to shore". – Hot Licks Mar 30 '16 at 12:35

1 Answers1

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The water's edge is the edge of the water. It doesn't matter which direction you approach that boundary from.

There is an issue with the verb bring which is dealt with in another question: "Bring" vs. "take" in American English

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Andrew Leach
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  • Yes.. edge: a rim or brink: the edge of a cliff. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/edge –  Mar 30 '16 at 10:27
  • Interesting - I think "the edge of a cliff" must be from the land side rather than the air side, although it could be the top of the cliff or the bottom. – James McLeod Mar 30 '16 at 10:41
  • @James The bird flew over and landed on the edge of the cliff. – Andrew Leach Mar 30 '16 at 10:44
  • One could argue, I think, that there is no "edge" for where the cliff meets air, rather it is an entire surface. Compare that to a shoreline, where there is a clear line. – Inazuma Mar 30 '16 at 10:47
  • @Inazuma I live near cliffs. Believe me, there is a defined edge which it's possible to go over! But all this talk of cliffs is rather beside the point and I anticipate these comments will be removed. – Andrew Leach Mar 30 '16 at 11:03
  • The "water's edge" is from the perspective of the person on land. From a ship, that line of demarcation is usually called the shore or something like to "make landfall." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make%20landfall – user167084 Mar 30 '16 at 11:12
  • From a ship, it might be. From a dinghy rowed on a lake, less so, I think. – Andrew Leach Mar 30 '16 at 11:17