QOTW Seven: Help, Help, I'm Being Shanghaied!

Shanghai: Verb.
1. To kidnap (a man) for compulsory service aboard a ship, especially after drugging him.

2. To induce or compel (someone) to do something, especially by fraud or force: We were shanghaied into buying worthless securities.

3. To render more awesome through cunning use of nomenclature.

Ahoy, Blogonians, and welcome to the seventh installment of Question of the Week. In conversation with a player the other day, the subject of renamed ships came up. Paraphrased, then, today's question is, "So, what's your favorite rename?"

This is a difficult question for several reasons, not least of which is that I have not seen every single rename in existence, and also because the art of a good custom rename, to my mind, is very different from the art of a good standard rename.

There's even variation with custom renames between ones which are funny, ones which are clever, and ones which are beautiful. I'm told there's at least one Batmobile out there, for instance, which is awesome, and I really hope it's painted black and grey with yellow trim. I know there is a player on Viridian collecting ships named after real ships from the Royal Navy (I renamed the HMS Queen Elizabeth for him and we had a good chinwag afterwards) which is awesome for a completely different reason. I also have favorites among renames I would have loved to be able to do under the rules, such as "Metallica" (anyone who knows the name of the ship I sit on will know why!) and "Ferrari". When that happens, we generally try to talk it over with the player and see if there's anything else they can come up with which is still cool.

I have to admit that I'm more fond of a clever standard rename, though. Both of my ships, the Wayward Sunfish and the Classic Rock Cod, are standards, and I'm having fun coming up with other renames which are thematically sound. I've got fishbase.org bookmarked and will on occasion type in random words to see if there's anything there (I just now discovered that there is a fish called the Sapo Bacon!) There doesn't even need to be a pun. In fact, my favorite standard rename of all isn't a pun, it's just nifty.

I speak, of course, of the "Owned Haha".

Next week on QOTW: Tentacles and Robots.

Posted by Gaea in General | Jul 22, 2008 | 28 Comments | permalink

Comments:

Posted by Sharktail, Sage

My favorite rename either has to be the 'Zingy/Zesty/Zebraic/Zany Zzugasangus' or the 'Jiggly Jello'. Those five rock so, so hard!

July 22, 2008 at 09:11 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by IVdripper

I'm not sure which OM had it, but Adjective Fishname was always one of my favorites. I, personally, am a collector of Needlefish. Among the many I have are Sharp, Intravenous, Hypodermic, and Contaminated. I am also the proud owner of the Grape Jello, the first in a fleet of Jello ships. :) IV

July 22, 2008 at 10:58 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by skelrose yo

I should get my own blog on ypp.

July 22, 2008 at 11:22 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by Gaea

Ooh, those Needlefish ones are clever! And the Zzugasangus ones are a lot of fun. Hee!

July 23, 2008 at 06:19 AM PDT | permalink

Posted by Babel on Cobalt

I have a ship with a the standard rename "Babbling Babalatu." Quite nifty, since my main player's name is Babel.

July 23, 2008 at 10:22 AM PDT | permalink

Posted by Spyagent, Viridian

A standard fish name that I always found really cool is Sardine. My friend had a ship named Free Sardine. I just love that. Or I mean Dreaded Sardine like that is very clever. Blackspot is also some kind of fish name which i found amusing. So many cool standard names out there you just don't think of!

July 23, 2008 at 12:55 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by IVdripper

Oh, almost forgot, I have the Pickled Anchovy. A standard. :) (Yes, I do hate anchovies, but Hold the Anchovy was a custom and at the time I couldn't afford or find 6 shangs).

July 25, 2008 at 04:44 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by Saturnine

For a while when I was dating a Scottish girl, I thought we ought to have the Smoked Salmon as it's the one delicacy the Scots and the Jews have in common. I was deeply, deeply disappointed to find that it was already taken. When that relationship ended, I found myself having to sink some renames that I treasured...and to the best of my knowledge, the only instances of the adjective "Jovial" used on Viridian.

July 27, 2008 at 03:09 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by Donsmythe

I really enjoy some of my renames... Ghostly Spookfish (painted white and gray, decorated with fish skeletons all over the deck and some tombstones in the hold). Quick Silverfish (which I want to eventually turn into a floating apothecary of sorts). Weaving Loom (soon to become a floating weavery). Threaded Needlefish (almost done with decorating, it's the floating tailor). And then there's the Swashbuckling Swordfish and Fearless Flamefish...

August 01, 2008 at 02:05 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by Klostro

I've taken a liking to the Moon-Shine line for my standard renames... So far I've got Baghlahs with Tasty Moonshine and Mouth-Watering Moonshine. I could spend hours coming up with standard yet custom looking renames, which I have an IE7 Search provider option setup to search fishbase for.

August 01, 2008 at 03:43 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by blabby

what is the responsibility of Gaea?

May 14, 2009 at 06:17 PM PDT | permalink

Posted by Aruns

Mind the bump!

I'd just like to say I own the sage Batmobile and it's the only sloop I pillage on but it's not my favourite renamed ship, I'm really fond of my standard rename baghlah the Mad Hata (I was in a crew called The Mad Tea Party at the time :p)

March 04, 2010 at 04:21 PM PST | permalink

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