The internet wants to name this majestic new ship "RRS Boaty McBoatface."(Photo: NERC screen shot)
(NEWSER)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>– When the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
Natural Environment Research Council<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the UK put the naming of its $300 million Antarctic survey vessel to a public vote online, well, the Internet had a little fun. Suggestions ranged from the inspirational ("Henry Worsley," the former British Army officer and explorer who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
died in January trying to cross Antarctica<span style="color: Red;">*</span>without aid) to the literal ("It's bloody cold out here") and the snarky ("Notthetitanic"), but the current front-runner is "Boaty McBoatface," reports the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
Independent. The name has garnered 21,000-plus votes, nearly 10 times as many as the second highest "Henry Worsley." The NERC has set April 16 as a deadline and noted that it will choose the name.
Meanwhile, the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
communications manager<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who submitted Boaty McBoatface has since apologized, though it's not likely to disappear — it's even got its own<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
Twitter<span style="color: Red;">*</span>hashtag. Still, in the realm of Internet silliness and snark, things could be worse. People once responded to Mountain Dew's call for a new flavor name with "Hitler did nothing wrong" and "Fapple," notes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
Mashable. And even though Boaty McBoatface is far from the "inspirational name" that NERC called for, it's become popular enough to have caused multiple traffic outages and brought attention to a ship that may otherwise have gone under the radar. (Bill Cosby's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
callout for his own Internet meme<span style="color: Red;">*</span>went quite predictably awry.)
This article originally appeared on Newser
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Internet Voters Want to Name UK Vessel 'Boaty McBoatface'
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