trog Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Info here: NERC - Can you name our new ship? If you look at the entries so far, Entries | NERC and click on 'Most Loved Overall', you'll see the current leading entry is 'RRS Boaty McBoatFace'. In the interests of national pride, let's make sure Boaty McBoatFace wins. Get voting! If you fancy something to do with dance, there is the appropriate 'RSS Pole Dancer'. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 How about Aurora? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Just been reading about this on Twitter. Apparently a new polar research vessel needed naming,so they asked the internet to come up with a suitable name for the boat. Somebody ,jokingly,suggested the boat be called Boaty McBoatface. People on Twitter went mad for the idea and everybody [well a large percentage of them anyway] voted that this name be used. The powers that be are none too impressed and were hoping to name the ship after a famous explorer or something. Personally I hope they abide by the people`s wishes. A bit of light hearted fun is always welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Just been looking further into it. The website is that of the Natural Environmental Research Council. You can go to www.nerc.ac.uk/nameourship and put forward any name you like . But I think the website has currently crashed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Lisa, Trog gave us the link a couple of days ago. I have merged the threads. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Cheers Jan.x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) That'll teach them to ask people to vote. They're looking for names like Shackleton, Endeavour, or Falcon, and they end up with Boaty McBoatface. Seriously, one of the criteria is "... we would like the name to be inspirational and about environmental and polar science, to help us tell everyone about the amazing work the ship does"; that name should have been disallowed the minute it was suggested. Honestly, this would be like the ROH having an online poll to name one of its new dance studios after the grand reopening, hoping for something inspirational about dance, and instead of something like the Ashton or Fonteyn Studio, they're stuck with the Silly Billy Jillywiggle Studio because a bunch of people on Twitter, who don't know or care about dance, thought it'd be funny. People who do care about these things are the ones who have to live with the names in the long term. What in the world is social media doing to people's common sense and IQ? Maybe in the future they should come up with a bunch of alternatives and let people vote among them, rather than allowing something completely open-ended in this day and age of nonsense going viral on Twitter. Edited March 23, 2016 by Melody 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 That'll teach them to ask people to vote. They're looking for names like Shackleton, Endeavour, or Falcon, and they end up with Boaty McBoatface. Seriously, one of the criteria is "... we would like the name to be inspirational and about environmental and polar science, to help us tell everyone about the amazing work the ship does"; that name should have been disallowed the minute it was suggested. Honestly, this would be like the ROH having an online poll to name one of its new dance studios after the grand reopening, hoping for something inspirational about dance, and instead of something like the Ashton or Fonteyn Studio, they're stuck with the Silly Billy Jillywiggle Studio because a bunch of people on Twitter, who don't know or care about dance, thought it'd be funny. People who do care about these things are the ones who have to live with the names in the long term. What in the world is social media doing to people's common sense and IQ? Maybe in the future they should come up with a bunch of alternatives and let people vote among them, rather than allowing something completely open-ended in this day and age of nonsense going viral on Twitter. It's not a binding vote (NERC have already confirmed that). Just think of the publicity, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) Oh, sure - and I mean, I think some of the suggestions were hilarious; I particularly liked RRS It's Bloody Cold Here. You're always going to get these off-the-wall suggestions with a poll like this, but it beggars belief that there seem to be so many people who seriously think this name would be in any way appropriate. Mind you, having said that, I gather the guy who came up with Boaty McBoatface had originally suggested it as the name for the new UK-Channel Island ferry that ended up being called the Condor Liberation. And considering the way that vessel has lurched from one disaster to another since it was put into service, I think maybe Condor Boaty McBoatface (or Condor Boaty McRedface) might have been a better choice. Edited March 23, 2016 by Melody 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 Bravo the member of South West staff at Waterloo. Trainy McTrainface. https://twitter.com/hwallop/status/712217330508537856 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I hope whoever did this does not get into trouble. Everyone was surely in desperate need of a little amusement yesterday after the appalling events in Belgium. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) You're always going to get these off-the-wall suggestions with a poll like this, but it beggars belief that there seem to be so many people who seriously think this name would be in any way appropriate. Perhaps the people who asked for name suggestions just underestimated the British sense of humour? We to tend to have something of a taste for the absurd. There are some eminently sensible suggestions too. Currently in second place: RRS Henry Worsley and in third: RRS David Attenborough Edited March 23, 2016 by taxi4ballet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 (edited) Just to remind people ,for those of you who are interested. There are only four days left to submit your name choice. Go to www.nerc.ac.uk for details. Edited April 12, 2016 by Lisa O`Brien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 I see from the BBC news website that a racehorse in Australia has been officially named 'Horsey McHorseface' 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Yes I wondered what that was about on the BBC website as have only just discovered this thread!! The humour about this boat is great but do hope that in the end gets a more appropriate name. How about "Arctic Firebird" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Whoops "Antarctic Firebird" then .....not quite the same ring! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Well Boaty McBoatFace was the clear winner. But it is still undecided if they will eventually choose that name or something more serious and "revered" for the ship. I Tweeted the NERC and asked them if they knew when the decision on the name was going to be announced,but no-one replied. Just now on the ITV news there was no update,just that Boaty had been voted the most popular name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 (edited) Since they requested an inspirational name with a connection to the ship's future as a polar research vessel, I hope they'll respond with a "that was fun, and thanks but no thanks" to Boaty McBoatface. Apparently the guy who came up with the Boaty McBoatface name voted for RRS David Attenborough. At least this competition has given a lot of publicity to a vessel (and a whole field of research) that people wouldn't otherwise know about, so it's done some good. Edited April 18, 2016 by Melody 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I think a good compromise would be to name the actual ship ,when it is built in 6 years time,something "serious",but maybe,out of that budget,build a smaller vessel,name it Boaty and it could tour around,people could come on board and it could have lots of interactive stuff for families to do and learn about. "Come and meet Boaty", days at your local sea port,that sort of thing. "What is the difference between a ship and a boat?" ,educational stuff etc. I definately think they could capitalise somehow on the name`s popularity with merchandise ,etc. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Well I have just logged into Facebook. Do you know how when you first log in ,on the right it gives you a list of different stories making the news? One of them is about the ships new name. When you scroll down that page, i`ve already seen people make comments about it from Australia and Canada,just in the last 10 minutes. You can`t buy that sort of publicity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Judging by the size of the new ship, there will be plenty of room on it for another plaque somewhere 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 What in the world is social media doing to people's common sense and IQ? I sometimes wonder that, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 (edited) It's news over here too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxcuhdIeO6M Edited April 21, 2016 by Melody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Just reading in The Guardian via Twitter that the head of the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC] is to be questioned by MP`s next Tuesday over the Boaty McBoatFace debate. They are going to try and find out if the whole thing has been an embarrassing disaster or a PR triumph. Jo Johnson [Now ex London Mayor Boris`s brother] has the final say on the name,which apparently is imminent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 (edited) I'm not sure it's relevant whether it's been a PR triumph or a disaster, to be honest. I mean, in the age of stuff going viral on Twitter you have to expect humorous and idiotic entries in competitions like this, and the Internet is going to amplify the idiocy. At least the topic of polar research has been given a lot of publicity, which on balance is probably a good thing. I just hope it's been sufficiently clear that the public vote isn't binding. And I'm sure that whatever inspirational-sounding name the ship ends up with (which I hope it does), it'll always be referred to informally and affectionately as Boaty. Not sure if there's anything they could usefully have done to insist that the entries followed the remit of the event, which was to suggest names that were inspirational and relevant to polar research, without looking like grinches with no sense of humour who were censoring stuff for the hell of it. But given all that's going on in the world, this seems like a rather idiotic thing for MPs to be getting involved in. Edited May 5, 2016 by Melody 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I'm not sure it's relevant whether it's been a PR triumph or a disaster, to be honest. I mean, in the age of stuff going viral on Twitter you have to expect humorous and idiotic entries in competitions like this, and the Internet is going to amplify the idiocy. At least the topic of polar research has been given a lot of publicity, which on balance is probably a good thing. I just hope it's been sufficiently clear that the public vote isn't binding. And I'm sure that whatever inspirational-sounding name the ship ends up with (which I hope it does), it'll always be referred to informally and affectionately as Boaty. Not sure if there's anything they could usefully have done to insist that the entries followed the remit of the event, which was to suggest names that were inspirational and relevant to polar research, without looking like grinches with no sense of humour who were censoring stuff for the hell of it. But given all that's going on in the world, this seems like a rather idiotic thing for MPs to be getting involved in. I suppose they have to get involved because it`s the Government`s [ i.e. Taxpayer`s ] money that is going to build it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 RRS Sir David Attenborough 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 RRS Sir David Attenborough Yes,I think this is a fine choice,if something "sensible" has to be picked. But the NERC are saying they are going to name a small submarine Boaty McBoatFace,which is currently Trending. A lot of people are not happy,that the public`s decision has not been honoured, but TBH as charming a name as Boaty was, I think the likliehood of that name being implemented by the Government was very slim. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 How about just The Attenborough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Sorry also meant to say it does seem rather over the top all this investigation into the naming of this boat. People often have their own affectionate names for boats they've served on or worked on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 This needs to happen 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 The BBC had the official name announcement as Breaking News. I think that might be attaching just a little bit too much importance to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 RRS Sir David Attenborough That's great (and the one I voted for!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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