# Do "cool" names for military weapons really make a difference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2023, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887 "2023-05-11T12:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/41 "2023-05-11T15:35:44Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > They still have the best name for a weapon ever: HMS Warspite. They also named one after their [mother-in-law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Battleaxe_(F89)). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/42 "2023-05-11T16:44:23Z")
Weapons have been named since way back when the late Thag Simmons encountered the Thagomizer. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/43 "2023-05-11T17:07:37Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Curious about [SDMB mentions](https://boards.straightdope.com/search?context=topic&context_id=983870&q=%22storm%20shadow%22&skip_context=true), Storm Shadow is brought up as a GI Joe character 21 times REJECT! REPLACE! (Goes back to playing with Astronaut GI Joe and his Mercury capsule) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/44 "2023-05-11T17:12:31Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > (Goes back to playing with Astronaut GI Joe and his Mercury capsule) Storm Shadow the character was introduced in 1984. Almost 40 years ago. The IP is old enough to run for president and start worrying about its prostate health. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/45 "2023-05-11T17:13:36Z")
That’s still about 15 years after the timeframe I consider canon. But AFAIC that’s enough about GI Joe. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/46 "2023-05-11T17:22:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@DPRK](#): > > > > and you have the guy who called his plane “Enola Gay”. > > He named the plane after his mother. Apparently a rather … formidable … woman considering all the damage her namesake did. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/47 "2023-05-11T18:21:33Z")
Sure, the British have great ship names like Dreadnought, Warspite, Invincible, Battleaxe, etc. But if you really want to terrify your enemies, you need names like the [Gay Bruiser, Gay Centurion, Gay Charioteer, or god help me, the Gay Viking.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay-class_patrol_boat). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/48 "2023-05-11T19:14:24Z")
The Brits also came up with this fear-inspiring group of ships, and during wartime no less: > **[Flower-class corvette](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower-class_corvette)** > > The Flower-class corvette (also referred to as the Gladiolus class after the lead ship) was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II by the Allied navies particularly as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers. > Most served during World War II with the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Several ships built largely in Canada were transferred from the RN to the United States Navy (USN) under... ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/49 "2023-05-11T20:52:30Z")
Good thing that at one point during the war the RN stopped putting the ship’s name on the headband of the lower rates’ hats. Just feels like going around with “BUTTERCUP” across your forehead would be conducive to many a brawl. And hey, naming your vessel “Gay Viking” or “Gay Bruiser” is brilliant psy ops. Rattle your adversaries! Let the RN reputation for “rum, sodomy and the lash” precede you! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/50 "2023-05-11T21:12:16Z")
I can just see the battle royale in some harborside bar when the Begonia, the Buttercup, the Candytuft, and the Gardenia all pull into the same port at the same time & give the sailors liberty. As the French fellow says on Mnty Python’s _Holy Grail_: > I shall taunt you again you silly English bastarts! Instant brawl; just add ale. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/51 "2023-05-11T21:27:10Z")
On the other hand, I could see someone being earnestly referred to as a “gay cavalier”, since the words in context seem to go together with a connotation of being unworried. Now granted, the double entendre would definitely be my _second_ thought, as opposed to the _first_ had I heard about a “gay fencer” or “gay forester”. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/52 "2023-05-11T22:19:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The Chinese are even worse, with things like “Avenging Tiger”, “Resolute Destroyer”, and “Lotus of Doom”. I exaggerate slightly here for effect, but not by much. The (US) Air Force Research Lab’s [Rapid Dragon](https://afresearchlab.com/technology/rapid-dragon) system for palletized munition deployment (read ‘dropping boxes full of cruise missiles out the back of cargo planes’) borrows its name from ancient [Chinese multiple crossbow carts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_siege_weapons#Multiple_bolt_crossbow). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/53 "2023-05-11T22:46:53Z")
Here’s a fine Chinese example: > **[Chengdu J-20](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu_J-20)** > > The Chengdu J-20 (Chinese: 歼-20; pinyin: Jiān-Èrlíng), also known as Mighty Dragon (Chinese: 威龙; pinyin: Wēilóng), is a twinjet all-weather stealth fighter aircraft developed by China's Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as an air superiority fighter with precision strike capability. The aircraft has three variants: the initial production model J-20A, the thrust-vectoring J-20B, and twin-seat aircraft teamin Descending from the... A Mighty Dragon indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/54 "2023-05-11T23:02:10Z")
We always referred to the F-16 as “Lawn Dart.” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/55 "2023-05-11T23:18:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The Brits have always preferred much more poetic names for things Yes, like the [Flower class of corvettes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower-class_corvette). Can you imagine being a sailor on shore leave in a pub, saying that you’re from HMS Buttercup, or HMS Hollyhock? ETA : Hmm having now actually read the thread, I see a case of great minds thinking alike. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/56 "2023-05-11T23:19:59Z")
I got a copy of Jane’s Fighting Ships from one of the WW2 years as a Christmas present as a teenager (yeah, I was a weird kid) and something that absolutely fascinated me was a list of the English translations for the names of Japanese warships and their naming conventions. Cruisers and battleships got named after provinces, mountains and rivers, but destroyers were given [poetic names for weather](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyers_of_World_War_II): > Due to the anticipated expansion of the navy, the IJN issued numerical designations to every destroyer for the short period 1923–1928. However, the bland numerical designations were unpopular with the officers and crews. The IJN abolished destroyers’ numerical designations in August 1928, reverting to names. The reverence held by the Japanese for the arts of war, promoted by the pre-war military governments, led to poetic sounding names for warships. Destroyers were allocated names associated with natural phenomena of weather, sky and sea, e.g., wind (_kaze_ ), snow (_yuki_ ), rain (_ame_ ), clouds (_kumo_ ), waves (_nami_ ), mist (_kiri_ ), frost (_shimo_ ), tides (_shio_ ), and the moon (_tsuki_ ). The linked wiki page has the names of destroyers that survived the war in romaji (anglicized Japanese), kanji and the literal English translation. Examples: _Yakaze_ 矢風, “arrow wind” _Yukikaze_ 雪風, “snow wind” _Suzutsuki_ 涼月, “clear autumn moon” _Hanazuki_ 花月, “flower moon” _Yoizuki_ 宵月, “early evening moon” _Sawakaze_ 沢風, “swamp/marsh wind” _Ushio_ 潮, “tide” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/57 "2023-05-11T23:25:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The Brits also came up with this fear-inspiring group of ships, and during wartime no less: > [Flower-class corvette - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower-class_corvette) Meanwhile, the U.S. had submarines named after fearsome sea creatures. So we had the _Skate_, _Cod_ and _Gudgeon_ ( commonly used as bait by fishermen). The Curtiss Helldiver was a dive-bomber in common use by the U.S. in the latter stages of WWII. Pilots who were initially unimpressed and found it hard to fly, did a riff on its manufacturing designation, the SB2C, and referred to it as the Son of a Bitch, Second Class. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/58 "2023-05-11T23:34:58Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > ETA : Hmm having now actually read the thread, I see a case of great minds thinking alike. The Vulcan mind meld is strong in that one. Or those two. 😉 > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Meanwhile, the U.S. had submarines named after fearsome sea creatures. So we had the _Skate_, _Cod_ and _Gudgeon_ ( commonly used as bait by fishermen). A general problem with WW-II is every side had so many ships, groups of forces, and models of fighting machine that there simply weren’t enough fierce animal words in all the world’s languages to go around. John Cleese’s _Fierce Creatures_ movie notwithstanding, the HMS Ring-Tailed Lemur would not strike fear into IJN or Kriegsmarine officers or men. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/59 "2023-05-11T23:40:32Z")
At least in Canada, we named the Flower class after cities and towns. Sure, maybe HMCS Kamsack isn’t particularly scary, but it still beats HMS Pink. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/60 "2023-05-11T23:49:37Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The Curtiss Helldiver was a dive-bomber in common use by the U.S. in the latter stages of WWII. Pilots who were initially unimpressed and found it hard to fly, did a riff on its manufacturing designation, the SB2C, and referred to it as the Son of a Bitch, Second Class. Still better than the nickname given to the earlier Vought SB2U Vindicator, the ‘wind indicator’. I’d wager the [Martin B-26 Marauder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder) holds the record for malicious nicknames given to it though or is at least in solid contention for the title. It was an excellent bomber, but equally demanding on the crew especially when compared to the more forgiving B-25. Appellations given to it included “One a day in Tampa Bay” - training was conducted at MacDill Field, Florida - “Widowmaker”, “Martin Murderer”, “Flying Coffin”, “B-Dash-Crash”, “Flying Prostitute” (so-named because it was so fast and had “no visible means of support,” referring to its small wings) and “Baltimore Whore” (a reference to the city where Martin was based). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887.md?page=4)