# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/102 "2023-05-21T21:43:45Z")
Heck, even “Pitt” itself has a lot of potential for abuse. ---
**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 21, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/103 "2023-05-21T22:03:28Z")
Churchill also wanted to name a ship “Oliver Cromwell”, but for some reason George V didn’t agree with naming one of His Majesty’s Ships after a regicide. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/104 "2023-05-21T22:27:57Z")
Churchill allegedly wanted to name a ship “Boaty McBoatface”, but was advised not to do so by Howard Hughes. Surely anything can be made scatalogical. Not the best reason, even if they called it _William Pitt The Elder_ or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/105 "2024-02-25T05:21:02Z")
The UH-1 helicopter was officially called “Iroquois”. The troops in VietNam called it a “Huey”. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/106 "2024-02-25T15:05:57Z")
I was about to reply “See Post #72” but you already knew about that one, didn’t you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/107 "2024-02-25T15:46:41Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Churchill also wanted to name a ship “Oliver Cromwell”, but for some reason George V didn’t agree with naming one of His Majesty’s Ships after a regicide. He did give the name to a pretty decent tank, though. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/108 "2024-02-25T16:11:34Z")
Surely there is no cooler name that the Japanese “Zero” fighter. Its alphanumeric designation was simply A6M0, the 0 noting the last digit of its first year of release, and so Japanese crews quickly started calling it just the Zero. Coincidentally, the American code nickname for the fighter was Zeke. Eventually, the Japanese nickname filtered over and they started calling it the Zero, too. I’m not sure how the nickname made its way into Allied usage, but it must have done so pretty early on; at least as early as 1943, official training documents and films were referring to it as the Zero, not the Zeke. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/109 "2024-02-25T16:39:34Z")
That brings up a memory of a comic book (I want to say Archie?) and a bad guy who was threatening the world with his huge Air Force. His name? The Google, because he was “one followed by a hundred Zeroes!” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/110 "2024-02-25T16:46:16Z")
Nitpick: The number is Googol. Google is the search engine. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/111 "2024-02-25T16:47:36Z")
Dangit. I even looked it up under “Google.” I guess I’m just too used to that word. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/112 "2024-02-25T17:04:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > nobody in US service likes two-word names The F-117 Stealth Fighter earned the nickname the “wobbly goblin” which is two words. It’s also not a “cool” name. Apparently F-117 pilots say that while it does emphasize stealth to the point where its stability suffers quite a bit, especially at low speeds, it’s not quite as wobbly and unstable as its nickname suggests. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/113 "2024-02-25T17:16:14Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > The UH-1 helicopter was officially called “Iroquois”. The troops in VietNam called it a “Huey”. The UH-1 was originally the HU-1. HU = ‘Hugh’. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/114 "2024-02-25T17:58:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Its alphanumeric designation was simply A6M0, the 0 noting the last digit of its first year of release, and so Japanese crews quickly started calling it just the Zero. > > Coincidentally, the American code nickname for the fighter was Zeke. Eventually, the Japanese nickname filtered over and they started calling it the Zero, too. I’m not sure how the nickname made its way into Allied usage, but it must have done so pretty early on; at least as early as 1943, official training documents and films were referring to it as the Zero, not the Zeke. Actually, the Japanese had two names, the manufacturer’s designation A6M (the variant A6M2 was already in service in 1940), and Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter. An noted below the Japanese normally referred to it as _Rei-sen_ and _Zero-sen_. > [@](#): > > The A6M is usually known as the “Zero” from its Japanese Navy [type designation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_(designation)), Type 0 carrier fighter (_Rei shiki Kanjō sentōki_ , 零式艦上戦闘機), taken from the last digit of the [Imperial year](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calendar#Years) 2600 (1940) when it entered service. In Japan, it was unofficially referred to as both _Rei-sen_ and _Zero-sen_ ; Japanese pilots most commonly called it _Zero-sen,_ where _sen_ is the first syllable of _sentōki,_ Japanese for “fighter plane”.[[Note 2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero#cite_note-14)[[13]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero#cite_note-15) In the official designation “A6M”, the “A” signified a carrier-based fighter, “6” meant that it was the sixth such model built for the Imperial Navy, and “M” indicated Mitsubishi as the manufacturer. The Allies codes for Japanese planes weren’t designated until September, 1942 by an American USAAF intelligence officer. While the code names for other airplanese were quickly adopted, the Zero was well known enough that it was continued to be called that as well. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/115 "2024-02-25T18:02:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The Brits have always preferred much more poetic names Apparently this was introduced or at least encouraged by Churchill during WW2. I read an account from a WW2 tank officer to the affect of “I wished he’d spent more time making sure we had high explosive rounds and less time worrying about giving the tanks cool names” ---
**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:** [February 26, 2024, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/116 "2024-02-26T02:15:52Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > nobody in US service likes two-word names > > The F-117 Stealth Fighter earned the nickname the “wobbly goblin” which is two words. > > It’s also not a “cool” name. > > Apparently F-117 pilots say that while it does emphasize stealth to the point where its stability suffers quite a bit, especially at low speeds, it’s not quite as wobbly and unstable as its nickname suggests. I was stationed at Nellis while the F-117 was still utterly secret and I was still there when it went public. Lotta folks moved between the regular USAF and the super-secret USAF then and there. I personally had no involvement with the 117 other than ogling the prototype they installed on a post at Nellis’s back gate after the big reveal. But I worked closely with people that came to my unit from there or went from my unit to there. “Wobblin goblin” was a popular press nickname. The guys that flew it didn’t use it. Because it didn’t. Aside: I just went to Google maps to try to cite the 117 on a post near the back gate. Wow have they changed that place in the 36 years since I left there. They now have a **[whole garden of jets including a 117](https://maps.app.goo.gl/UNyWRqHWydmsSrcJ8)**. Note also the Soviet / Russian equipment and the Warthog just across the street from the F-117. And even more Soviet equipment directly south of the south gate. USAF was always very proud of their Soviet equipment museum. They left it outside where the Soviets could see it as a giant F-U!!; the whole collection could certainly have been kept indoors. As much of it was and probably still is. Considering how long the F-16 was the active combat fighter there, plus all the weapons school, OTD&E, Thunderbirds, etc, use of F-16s, I’m rather surprised they don’t have one of those in their collection of jets-on-posts. Color me slightly disappointed / disrespected. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/117 "2024-02-26T02:36:24Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > An noted below the Japanese normally referred to it as _Rei-sen_ and _Zero-sen_. Does “Zero” there mean the same thing it does in English? Is it a loanword commonly used in Japanese, or did they just name that one specific plane (partly) in English? ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/118 "2024-02-26T03:42:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Wobblin goblin” was a popular press nickname. The guys that flew it didn’t use it. Well, at least it’s not as bad as Mike Sparks one-man crusade to name the M113 the “Gavin.” Including creating multiple accounts on Wikipedia to alter to article on the M113 with the claim that “Gavin” was the unofficial nickname of the M113. Because he wrote in an unhinged article that he wanted it named the “Gavin”. > **[The Ballad Of Mike Sparks](https://www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/the-ballad-of-mike-sparks)** > > By Colin Salt Mike Sparks is one of the most infamous internet commentators about military matters. He is known for his crazed conspiracies and in particular his love of the M113 armored personnel carrier, which he calls the "Gavin". (No one else,... At least it produced some good memes mocking him. > **[Pentagon announces entire fleet of AFVs to be replaced by GAVIN](https://tankandafvnews.com/2015/04/01/pentagon-announces-entire-fleet-of-afvs-to-be-replace-by-gavin/)** > > APRIL 1, 2015 – Defense News Daily is reporting that the US Dept. of Defense has made a stunning announcement that they will be replacing the entire fleet of tracked vehicles with a new famil… ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/119 "2024-02-26T11:43:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Does “Zero” there mean the same thing it does in English? Is it a loanword commonly used in Japanese, or did they just name that one specific plane (partly) in English? It’s a loanword commonly used in Japan. Coke Zero, for example, is called コカ・コーラゼロ (koka・koora zero). The “e” in zero is pronounced at with a short “e” pronunication, such as in elephant, and the “ro” is the difficult Japanese “r” sound with the tip of the tongue just touching the roof of the mouth and not curled. It’s not only used for foreign words, but also native Japanese expressions as well. The are various expressions where 零 rei, is used and others where zero is used. Prior to WWII, Japanese authorities tried to eliminate many loanwords, and invented a number of words used in baseball, for example, so that “pure” Japanese could be used and not “enemy words.” I’ve gotten down a rabbit hole looking to see if indeed they used “zero sen” in addition to “rei sen” during the war, with various articles claiming both that they did or didn’t. It is clear that after the war, Japanese started using “zero sen” much more frequently as a result of more contact with Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/120 "2024-02-26T17:50:40Z")
Don’t feel bad. The Google founders actually misspelled “Googol”, which is how we ended up with the word “Google” to begin with. And they’re supposed to be smart. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/121 "2024-02-26T18:19:37Z")
The Air Force seems averse to nicknames that are too colloquial. Everything is always rather staid/plain-sounding. Fighting Falcon rather than Viper, Thunderbolt rather than Warthog, Eagle II rather than Super Eagle, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887.md?page=7)