Boaty McBoatface 'wins' The #NameOurShip contest has closed, but Boaty McBoatface may yet sink. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is hedging on the outcome of the poll, saying "We’ve had an extremely high volume of suggestions and will now review all of the suggested names." "The final decision will be announced in due course." Boaty …
I'd say that going with the poll results would fit quite well with part of their charter:
"to generate public awareness, communicate research outcomes, encourage public engagement and dialogue, disseminate knowledge and provide advice in relation to those activities."
I do hope they go with it.
"Because you've shown us that behind a keyboard, you all become two years old..."
Time to rename, say, football teams using the same philosophy, the sport would become much more funny and fans would have much more issue to fight among themselves when teams will have funny childish names, instead of some boastful ones...
It would be a big slap in the face to overrule it. They got way more publicity as a result of the Boaty McBoatFace suggestion than they ever would have done otherwise. They either capitalise on that by going with the name or they reject it and effectively dismiss their huge new found audience.
Mark Rogers,
That's certainly true. It was a one-off joke / social media thingy, that will pass and nobody will remember. But of course, there is ongoing free publicity. They'll be able to get at least their first 2 or 3 press releases decent publicity on the back of the name alone, so if they ration them carefully they could get something useful from it.
Of course, there's also the downside of, "it is with regret that we have to announce the sinking of the RRS Boaty McBoatface - all her crew are feared lost."
I guess as a compromise they could give it a "proper" name, then paint a big face on the front, so everyone knows what it's really called. And I'd be surprised if the crew don't end up calling it Boaty McBoatface anyway.
Or perhaps a compromise. Go for an Iain Banks theme, and call it Grey Area. That gives the crew an even better nickname.
> I guess as a compromise they could give it a "proper" name, then paint a big face on the front
Current favoured compromise (according to those in the know *wink* *wink*) is to use a serious name for the ship but to name one of it's small boats as Boaty McBoatface.
Which is a good combo of humour and a nod to democracy. And will annoy the Chermans and confuse the French.
So, good solution all round!
> The NERC now has an unenviable choice: use the public's choice, or go with a more typical name that reflects the polar research vessel's function.
An easy cop out is to claim that having the word "boat" in the name of a ship might cause confusion in the event of an emergency / mayday call. Wouldn't want the coastguard searching for a rowing boat and ignoring the big thing floundering away etc etc
Reminds me of the tale about a newly ennobled trade union peer. The King at Arms wrote and asked if he had a preference for his title. The new peer explained that he lived in Farnham Royal and thought it a cracking title - Baron Farnham Royal. The King at Arms explained that, regretfully, only members of the Royal Family could legally use the word "royal" in their title, however Baron Farnham Common was still open.
A lifeboat volunteer was in B&Q with his Mum, when he got a mobile call from a friend. This guy was on a crewing job in the Caribbean, on someone's yacht, they were in hurricane force winds and had lost power and pumps, and were taking on water. So he grabbed his receipt and a pen to take down the details, position etc.
"What's the boat called?"
"MY Titanic"
"Ha ha. Very funny! Now stop taking the piss!"
Except the panic sounded genuine, and his mate wasn't taking the piss. He described his next actions as, deciding not to phone this one in, but to go to the lifeboat station and call it in from there. As he was much more likely to be believed coming from an official line.
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