From the Washington Post Style Invitation, in which it was postulated that English should have male and female nouns, and readers were asked to assign a gender to nouns of their choice and explain their reason.
The best submissions:
SWISS ARMY KNIFE – male, because even though it appears useful for a wide variety of work, it spends most of its time just opening bottles.
KIDNEYS – female, because they always go to the bathroom in pairs.
PENLIGHT – male, because it can be turned on very easily, but isn’t very bright.
TIRE – male, because it goes bald and often is over-inflated.
HOT AIR BALLOON: male, because to get it to go anywhere you have to light a fire under it… and, of course, there’s the hot air part.
SPONGES – female, because they are soft and squeezable and retain water.
WEB PAGE – female, because it is always getting hit on.
SHOE – male, because it is usually unpolished, with its tongue hanging out.
COPIER – female, because once turned off, it takes a while to warm up. Because it is an effective reproductive device when the right buttons are pushed. Because it can wreak havoc when the wrong buttons are pushed.
ZIPLOC BAGS – male, because they hold everything in, but you can always see right through them.
SUBWAY – male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.
HOURGLASS – female, because over time, the weight shifts to the bottom.
HAMMER – male, because it hasn’t evolved much over the last 5,000 years, but it’s handy to have around and is good for killing bugs.