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Comment by wildmusings | Hacker News Reader

This seems like bad move on the British government's part. Name the thing Boaty McBoatface and reap great PR for years.

Edit: Or maybe it's all part of the plan. Let us all down by hinting that they're not using the name, then announce a change of heart. The internet would explode.

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I'm sure that the crew and people who do research on it, if they have any sense of humor, would get an enormous kick out of it too. How'd it be to tell your mates that you'll be out for 6 weeks at sea on RRS Boaty McBoatface ? I'd personally bust out laughing every time I talked about it.

It's not to say that the work isn't serious or important, just that sometimes it's OK to have a laugh, even in an omgsrsbzns environment. It's not really at the expense of anyone (aside from perhaps the pride of a few) and it's not really disrespectful or non-kid-friendly (actually I'm sure kids would love it) like e.g. RRS Naff Minger or something else that the internet at large might dream up. My point is that it's actually a viable family-friendly name, and I mean...just look at it. Totally looks like a Boat McBoatface to me. It has that Pixar anthropomorphic look to it. It also looks like a big toy version of a real boat. Very cartoony, especially in bright red

Boaty McBoatface it is, then.

The look is just an added bonus; the bow design ensures a much smoother ride in poor weather conditions - rather than riding the wave (and, potentially earning the vessel the nickname 'The Vomit Comet'), it cuts through the wave (reducing vessel heave) and even (drumroll) effectively disperses the waves as they traverse along the hull, reducing drag.

So - better ride, less fuel consumption, cartoonish look. Win-win-win.

I dunno, how would you feel about putting it on your CV? Like calling a business Smelly Bottom Industries would be funny and populist, but people who actually worked there would struggle to take pride in the fact.

I'd feel pretty good. In fact the official name for my company is CodeMonkey :)

Really, people take this stuff waaay too seriously.

I understand that calling it "CuntBrick 5000" would be offensive and we shouldn't do that, but "Boaty McBoatface" is just whimsical...

I'd probably put down that I'd been working on an Antarctic research vessel. If I put down whatever generic name they actually do use most employers would probably assume I'd been a deckhand on a cross channel ferry or something

Not only the PR but all the merch for kids: stuffed toys, models, t-shirts, caps... follow Boaty through his artic adventures!

Yes exactly. If anything, it's a great way to get kids interested initially and tell the story about what it's doing, why, how they do something like that some day, etc.

Nothing good can ever come of getting kids interested in science.

Next thing you know they'll want to be doing science themselves. Where will it end?

I think whatever this ship ultimately ends up being called, it is going to be forever more informally referred to as Boaty McBoatface by anyone who goes near it, or to who has call to reference it.

Yes of course they should do that. And rename it the Attenborough when he (sadly) passes away.

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