Brygge

What do you call the thing you tie your boat to?

In English, it’s hard to know what to call that thing you are tying your boat up to. It could be:

  • Pier
  • Jetty
  • Berth
  • Dock
  • Wharf
  • Quay
  • Pontoon
  • Mole
  • Slip (American English)

The definitions of all these terms depend on if you are speaking English or American, and also seem to be rather fuzzy. However, there is an easy solution:

Brygge

It’s much easier if you just use the Scandinavian term. Everything is a brygge (or brygga, bryggen). It’s possible, but not necessary to be more precise about what kind of brygge it is, for example a flytebrygge is a floaty brygge, or pontoon, but it’s always a brygge. This word I have imported into English, and it makes life a lot easier.