# Imaginative types: Name needed for fictitious British cargo carrier **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278 "2009-02-17T16:10:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/1 "2009-02-17T16:10:19Z")
The local science-fiction model group is having a challenge; we were each given a cheap kit of an HH-43 Huskie helicopter (think cute little box with twin rotors and lots of rivets), and told to do what we liked with it. All those rivets appealed to me, so I’ve poised my fuselage, sans rotors and tail, way up on top of a WWII tracked cargo vehicle chassis, and am building an imaginary tracked cargo vehicle, such as might be used by His Majesty’s forces when policing the far reaches of the Empire in 1934. It’ll be tall and ungainly and ever-so-British. So I’m looking for a British-y name for it. It’ll be the “Armstrong-Vickers xxx Mk IV” (I love calling things “Mk IV”); the job is to fill in the"xxx". Ideally, the name would have connotations of strength and/or endurance, as well as being just-ever-so-faintly ridiculous. 😃 I thought of “Mastodon” and “Merseyside”, but neither of those quiiiiiiiiiite does it for me. Aaaaaand I thought, well, what the heck, there’s lots of people smarter than me on the Dope. So tax your brains and name my poor beast. I can even offer a prize, of sorts: The winner gets an authentic jpeg of the project under construction. (whoopee!) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/2 "2009-02-17T16:22:03Z")
Perhaps I should add a link to a picture, them being worth a thousand words and all: [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/DSCN4805.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/DSCN4805.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/3 "2009-02-17T16:26:31Z")
How about “Valiant”? The more armoured and spiky version might be the “Hedgehog”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/4 "2009-02-17T17:01:22Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > How about “Valiant”? The more armoured and spiky version might be the “Hedgehog”. The Valiant was one of the V-bomber series of the 50s and 60s, so might get a bit confusing. WW2-era British cargo vehicles didn’t really have an interesting naming scheme- they tended to be letter/number arrangements (like K2). However, you could use something like “Trailblazer” or “Explorer” to fit in with the one named one I can think of, the Scammell Pioneer. (Remember, the Trailblazer and Explorer were not yet shitty SUVs back then) Also, it’s Vickers-Armstrong. ETA: There was an air-drop capable WWII Vickers tank called the Tetrarch, and most British tracked vehicles were named for military ranks initially… ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/5 "2009-02-17T18:32:21Z")
Vickers-Armstrong Centennial Mk IV (it being approx. 100 years after Victoria’s coronation, they might have celebrated it that way in your fictional universe). ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/6 "2009-02-17T18:43:35Z")
Vickers-Armstrong Portage Mk IV Vickers-Armstrong Dromedary Mk IV ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/7 "2009-02-17T18:50:52Z")
I’m partial to oddly spelled large animals: Elefaunt Rinocerous Hephalumpe Baluchithere Indricothere Bandersnatch ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/8 "2009-02-17T18:51:11Z")
Vickers-Armstrong Navigator Mk IV ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/9 "2009-02-17T18:52:51Z")
I gotta admit, “Hephalumpe” made me grin. 😃 Some good suggestions so far. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/10 "2009-02-17T18:56:55Z")
Since we British like our double-barrelled names, I offer: Vickers-Armstrong Armstrong-Vickers Mk IV ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/11 "2009-02-17T21:20:30Z")
The Humbrol (yes, I know) The MacDuff (after the character in Macbeth) The Clydesdale (after the horse) The Wilberforce The Gertrude The Bolsover The Ormondroyd The Margrave ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/12 "2009-02-17T21:30:28Z")
[Antaeus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antaeus)- a fictional giant who could support many times his own weight so long as he remained in touch with the earth. (Nickname could be “Anteater”.) Vickers-Armstrong Antaeus Mk IV [Mora](http://www.collectableships.com/models/images/FM/H_XXXIII_Mora_3.jpg)- the name of William the Conqueror’s flagship in the huge amphibious troop transport from Normandy to England in 1066. (Nickname could be ‘sodom’ from British rhyme slang- “sodom & gomorrah/mora”, or if you want something less obvious using rhyme slang, “The Talmud” [from talmud & torah/mora- I know it doesn’t quite work, but who says these people would be Hebrew scholars?) Vickers-Armstrong Mora Mk IV [The Mary Rose](http://www.maryrose.org/)- Henry VIII’s flagship. Vickers-Armstrong Mary Rose Mk IV or Vickers-Armstrong Tudor Mk IV ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/13 "2009-02-17T21:32:16Z")
Ye Olde Vickers-Armstrong Mule Mk IV. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/14 "2009-02-17T21:37:44Z")
It’s massive, it crushes things, it’s used in the far reaches of the Empire. A Vickers-Armstrong **Juggernaut** if I ever saw one. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/15 "2009-02-17T21:44:37Z")
[Sirius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet) was the flagship of the first fleet to transport British convicts to Australia. My personal fave of the ones I’ve mentioned is still MORA, though; sounds similar to Morgan (as in le Fay) and is a pleasant sound for a ship that [by transporting William] caused the utter collapse of the British social order. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/16 "2009-02-17T21:46:23Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Vickers-Armstrong Centennial Mk IV (it being approx. 100 years after Victoria’s coronation, they might have celebrated it that way in your fictional universe). Though to be pedantic, the British word is “Centenary”. You could also have: The Romford (will raise a knowing snigger from time to time) The Hampden (after what was the largest stadium in the world in the 1930s) The Odin The Scrummage (from rugby) The Pagan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/17 "2009-02-17T21:49:05Z")
007 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/18 "2009-02-17T21:53:37Z")
Other suggestions (apologies if I’m using up more than my allotted space): Vickers Armstrong Maitland Mk IV (after [Robert Maitland Brereton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Maitland_Brereton), a father of the British trans-Indian railway) Vickers Armstrong [Mafeking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Mafeking) Mk IV (I just like the name, and in 1934 it would still have connoted power and militaria.) Vickers Armstrong Oliphant Mk IV- while it has Tolkien associations now it far predates him, and is even the name of a [Scottish peerage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Oliphant). Vickers Armstrong Cambria Mk IV ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/19 "2009-02-17T21:54:58Z")
Armstrong-Vickers Percheron Mk IV. Armstrong-Vickers John Thomas Mk IV. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/20 "2009-02-17T21:58:20Z")
Final one, I promise: Vickers Armstrong [Cerne Abbas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerne_Abbas_Giant)Mk IV. Everything you ordered: [manly, powerful, very English, huge, and ridiculous](http://images.google.com/images?q=cerne%20abbas%20giant&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278.md?page=2)