# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**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 19, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/61 "2009-02-19T14:28:07Z")
Yeah, and US military designations weren’t much better, what with “M4” standing for, as I recall, a rifle, a light tank, a medium tank, and an artillery tractor. Sigh. “Kitchener” has a certain “pride in the Empire” sound to it; I like it. But I find myself referring to it as I work on it as the “Gomphothere” ([Gomphothere - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomphothere)), and we all know how working titles tend to stick. Thanks for the advice on the configuration. The vehicle in the picture is the first mockup, and the final version will be more enclosed, with a couple tall (tongue-in-cheek tall) external exhaust stacks and a roof rack. Oh, and a flagpole. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/62 "2009-02-19T17:58:28Z")
The Vickers-Armstrong Samwise Mk IV (in American service, it would be referred to as the “M6 Jenny”, better known as the “Jackass” for the sound of its overtaxed powerplant) ---
**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 19, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/63 "2009-02-19T18:09:23Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > (Americans, of course, get confused because to you lot, a “Pistol” and a “Revolver” are completely different things; not in the Commonwealth, though.) Eh? I believe the common usage here is “revolver = type of pistol with a spinny round series of chambers”. Isn’t that how it works in the rest of the colonies? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/64 "2009-02-19T18:41:29Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Eh? > > I believe the common usage here is “revolver = type of pistol with a spinny round series of chambers”. Isn’t that how it works in the rest of the colonies? When ever I do hear the expression “Pistol”, it usually refers to a revolver in an old Western film. More commonly I hear “Handgun” to refer to either a revolver or a semiautomatic, but then I hang out with military types all the time. ---
**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 19, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/65 "2009-02-19T19:34:24Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > …better known as the “Jackass” for the sound of its overtaxed powerplant) :D:D ---
**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 19, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/66 "2009-02-19T19:44:04Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > When ever I do hear the expression “Pistol”, it usually refers to a revolver in an old Western film. More commonly I hear “Handgun” to refer to either a revolver or a semiautomatic, but then I hang out with military types all the time. I do think “handgun” is the more common generic term, but I don’t think anyone would look at you funny if you referred to a Glock as a pistol. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/67 "2009-02-19T23:39:53Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I do think “handgun” is the more common generic term, but I don’t think anyone would look at you funny if you referred to a Glock as a pistol. Hah, I only refer to them as “Those fucking Glocks”😃 While I applaud the quality of Glock’s firearms, I just can’t stand a number of the features their weapons are known for, ie: the weird trigger safety, the lack of a thumb switch safety, and no hammer (I’m used to looking at the hammer to get a quick reference for the weapon’s readyness to fire) What can I say? My boots are made from tanned animal hide and are secured to my feet with string. All I know is that it is considered uncouth by my NCOs to refer to an M16A2 Assault Rifle as a gun. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/68 "2009-02-20T01:25:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Eh? > > I believe the common usage here is “revolver = type of pistol with a spinny round series of chambers”. Isn’t that how it works in the rest of the colonies? Yes, it is, but “Pistol” in the US generally refers to a semi-automatic handgun, with “Revolver” denoting handguns with the rotating cylinder. In this part of the world no distinction is made as to whether “Pistol” refers to _any_ handgun, or just semi-auto models as in the US.Thus, in the Commonwealth, All revolvers are pistols, but not all pistols are revolvers, if that makes sense. We don’t call semi-automatics “Revolvers” because they clearly aren’t, but we do call Revolvers “Pistols” because they are (“Pistol” being a synonym for “Handgun”), if that makes sense. Personally, I prefer “Handgun” as an all-encompassing term. 🙂 That and I’m not a Glock fan, either. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/69 "2009-02-20T03:45:15Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > All I know is that it is considered uncouth by my NCOs to refer to an M16A2 Assault Rifle as a gun. 😃 Guns are for fun; rifles for shootin’. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/70 "2009-02-20T05:00:07Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > How about **[Bazalgette](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bazalgette)**. > > Si I rather like this one…appropriate, yet esoteric enough that an uninformed observer might think this was the technical term for the vehicle, rather than a name. Anyway, the first thing that occurred to me, though, considering the vehicle’s builder and theater of operations, was to give it an “adopted” foreign/colonial name… [“Howdah,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howdah) a type of elephant saddle/carriage came to mind immediately—there’s actually a faint resemblance between the two, and IIRC, there was at least one type of early British tank that featured a turret or gun emplacement that was quickly nicknamed a “howdah,” due to it’s high and seemingly awkward placement. So, there’s precedent. What d’ya think, sirs? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/71 "2009-02-20T06:24:21Z")
Armstrong-Vickers [(St.) Siegeberht](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigeberht_of_East_Anglia) Mk IV Armstrong-Vickers Whitby Mk IV Armstrong-Vickers Seax Mk IV Armstrong-Vickers Megatherium Mk IV ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/72 "2009-02-20T07:36:27Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > There are a few Dopers in this thread whose name would be good to use. > > The Lungfish. > The Quartz. > The Mudshark. > The Scissorjack. > The Sunspace. > The Wargamer. The Mudshark…I like that. I also like the sound of the Bazalgette. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/73 "2009-02-20T08:18:25Z")
> [@Mudshark](#): > > I also like the sound of the Bazalgette. Sir James Bazalgette designed the London sewer system to pump crap out of our homes. His descendant Peter Bazalgette works for Endemol - the media company that created _Big Brother_. I like the comment from QI host Stephen Fry - that Peter Bazalgette was undoing his great-grandfather’s works by “_pumping shit back into our homes._” Si ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/74 "2009-02-20T18:12:37Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Armstrong-Vickers [(St.) Siegeberht](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigeberht_of_East_Anglia) Mk IV > > Armstrong-Vickers Whitby Mk IV > > Armstrong-Vickers Seax Mk IV > > Armstrong-Vickers Megatherium Mk IV Just to clarify, respectively. [Whitby](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby) (location of Manufacture or shipping point) [Seax](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seax) (A sometimes ungainly looking but formidable knife/sword.) [Megatherium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatherium) (Giant Ground Sloth) ---
**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 20, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278/75 "2009-02-20T19:02:48Z")
“Megatherium” has some charm. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imaginative-types-name-needed-for-fictitious-british-cargo-carrier/486278.md?page=3)