'All who sail in her' or 'all that sail in her'

A Welsh friend of mine (who blogs as Taffdancer) keenly follows the news from Wales. Today Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton were launching a lifeboat in Anglesey, and my friend asked me whether William had made a mistake in saying 'God bless her and all that sail in her' (you can hear him on this video), instead of 'all who sail in her'.

 

Most grammar books say that 'who' should be used in relative clauses when referring to people. However, the respected Michael Swan in his best-selling Popular English Usage says that 'that' is often used instead of 'who', especially in a conversational style, and he gives as examples 'She's the only person that understands me', 'where's the girl that sells the tickets?' and 'he's a man that people like at first sight'.

 

Moreover, Acts 27:24 of the King James Bible has the phrase "lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee". Perhaps that is where Prince William got his grammar from.

 

Comments

[taffdancer]

Thanks for clearing that up Virtual Linguist!

I guess that, as future King, he will be using the 'King's English' i.e. whatever he says goes!

[Virtual Linguist]

Thanks, taffdancer. Yes, I won't be arguing with him!

[taffdancer]

On this subject, you may have seen last night's t.v.screening of 'The Real King's Speech'. At one point, Prince Albert (maybe he was King by this point) launched a ship with the words 'all WHO SERVE in her'. I found that interesting because, it infers that anyone not 'serving'(H.M.) on the ship e.g. stowaways or convicts, or any other type of sailor, might not be blessed. (Though I guess a true Christian would say that every human being 'serves God' in their own unique way whatever their formal role in life.) Just a thought for Sunday...

[Virtual Linguist]

Thanks for that, taffdancer. Interesting that 'serve' should have changed to 'sail'. I didn't see the programme last night, but will see if I can catch it on iPlayer.