Sorry,
I don't get the joke. I am German, as you know, so I miss the nesessary genes...
Can someone please explain to me why "Boaty McBoatface", "Trainy Mc Trainface" or "Whatever Mc Whateverface" is supposed to be funny?
Hey Stefan, don't sweat it - it's a very British thing.
Ignore the "explanatory" links posted above - there is nothing particularly funny about xMcX - the humour is in our peculiar habit of cocking a snook at anything that might be seen as portentous, worthy, pretentious or high-minded.
The NERC obviously expected some very high-minded responses and the fact that somebody offered up the most stupid kindergarten name is just too irresistible for us. No matter what the vessel is actually called, to all the sailors on board she will always be Boaty McBoatface.
I'm sure somebody on the train offered up McTrainface as a homage to the wonderful NERC appellation, (and the internet animal names are just a bit derivative after that.)
The same humour, in poking fun at anything too serious, can be seen in many examples. Two that come to mind would be:
1 When Spike Milligan was being presented with a lifetime comedy award, the compere tried to read out a letter from Prince Charles. It gushed that the Prince had always revered the Goons and particularly Milligan. "Oh the little grovelling bastard!" said Spike right into the microphone.
2 When US and British forces were closing in on the Tora Bora caves complex in Afghanistan, the US military called them the "Caves of Death". British troops called them "Tora Bora Tompkinson" (after an airhead socialite called Tara Palmer Tompkinson, who was always appearing in the tabloid press.)
The same humour abounded in WWI of course when troops sang humorous songs about the most dreadful things like Whizzbangs etc.
S
PS ..... or Archie - a fearsome explosive flak weapon, designed to blow you and your machine to pieces or shred you with shrapnel - and the RFC pilots nicknamed it after a music-hall comedian' s catchphrase 'Certainly Not, Archibald' !!!
