When is a schooner?

[teknocholer]

"If there are two masts, and the after one is taller, or they are the same size, it meets the definition of a schooner."

Unless it's a brig or a brigantine.

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a pedant's voice.
- apologies to Leonard Cohen

[benz]

Thanks guys,
Just trying to be as precise as I can with my terms. One hates to use the wrong nomenclature, especially at sea.

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
Yeah, sailors can be touchy about terminology. Maybe too touchy, in that precision should lead to clarity, not ego-gratifying punctiliousness. It doesn't help that the term "schooner" can mean a whole lot of things, including vessels with squares'ls on one or more masts. But if it isn't a ship, barque, barquentine, brig, snow, or brigantine, if it has at least two masts, and if the masts are either the same height, or the aft one is taller, it's safe to call it a schooner. Though for some of the odder ones, the term "bizarrentine" comes in handy.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss