That convention of nicknaming someone with "Characteristic McCharacteristic" was popularized in an episode of Friends where it was revealed that Ross, a college lecturer, had given all his students nicknames because he didn't know their real ones. After the semester ended he started dating a girl he had named "Cutie McPretty."
The -face part is more recently popularized, but it's been around for years,
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I'm familiar with the specific case of Boaty Mcboatface. I just don't think it is the first to use that type of joke. That Simpsons reference is from the year 2000.
I'm just curious if there is more to it than a random simpsons episode I recall. I know among my group of friends who love the Simpsons, we've been using the same type of _____ Mc_____ joke for years, since we saw that episode.
I've always assumed the Boaty Mcboatface was copying that Simpsons joke. I'm just curious if there is more behind it. A history of doing that joke that I'm not familiar with beyond that one Simpsons episode.
Now what's interesting is that the Friends episode aired in March of 2000 and Simpsons aired in Nov of 2000 but that obviously doesn't tell us production dates, which I would assume would have come much earlier for the Simpsons, since it is animated.
I wonder if there is a link between the joke on both shows because that timing almost seems odd. That two separate shows would make such a similar joke so close to each other.
The practice of affixing “Mc” to nouns, adjectives, or verbs “to create mock names denoting a person who … is considered an exemplar or personification” goes back at least to the late 1940s, according to the OED. The cartoon Cool McCool, about an incompetent spy with an air of mystery, aired in 1966. ... A character on the popular ’80s British television show Black Adder described someone as “madder than Mad Jack McMad, the winner of last year’s Mr. Madman competition.” And in the 1990s, the Simpsonsreturned several times to the McWell, in one episode referring to a vengeful God as “Killy McGee” and in another placing a character in “Tipsy McStagger’s Good Time Drinking and Eating Emporium.”
Now what's interesting is that the Friends episode aired in March of 2000 and Simpsons aired in Nov of 2000 but that obviously doesn't tell us production dates, which I would assume would have come much earlier for the Simpsons, since it is animated.
I wonder if there is a link between the joke on both shows because that timing almost seems odd. That two separate shows would make such a similar joke so close to each other.
Simpsons often references other shows, and it doesn't take that long for them to do an episode. Hell, could have even been the same writer.
Although even that article seems to not know for sure because one of their references to the Simpsons are newer than either the Friends episode and the other Simpsons example I quoted earlier. Although Tipsy McStagger's is from Flaming Moes, which is pretty old.
In addition, it says that the type of naming characteristic wasn't popularized on the internet until 2001, which seems extremely odd since anything that was on the Simpsons and Friends would probably be almost instantly used in the lexicon of internet users.
Last edited by Cecil Terwilliger; 01-27-2017 at 02:53 PM.
Simpsons often references other shows, and it doesn't take that long for them to do an episode. Hell, could have even been the same writer.
I don't know when the Simpsons when to computer production but I've always heard that animated shows are in production for a year or more.
I'd be surprised if Friends was the origin and the Simpsons ripped it off. I'd actually assumed both probably were referencing something else altogether. Although a crossover between writers could definitely be possible.
According to this it is 5 months: https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Production
and another site said the time taken hasn't changed much, over the years, so that would have given enough time.
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I met a traveller who taught English in Asia. He discovered his predecessor had given all the students really offensive names in English. The students were unaware how awful their English names were.
According to this it is 5 months: https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Production
and another site said the time taken hasn't changed much, over the years, so that would have given enough time.
Except as noted, they made the joke in the early 90s as well, making it a moot point.
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Just wondering about this iPad I got as a present. I can't return it or sell it or regift it or anything. But I don't really want or need it either. If I just hung on to it in the original packaging would it be valuable as a collectable someday? Kind of thinking not. Most of the nerdy collectables I've seen were rare from their inception. There are like a billion of these.
Piece of technology that will be barely useable in 3 years, thinking not. Why can't you sell it?
It's a present and I might have to produce it at some point. I guess I'll have to go with the extreme timeline. Like in a thousand year this will be a really cool relic of a once powerful civilization.
Does anyone know if there is a history behind the naming convention such as Boaty Mcboatface?
The earliest I can recall is Phony McRingring from the Simpsons, but I feel like that probably isn't the origin of that type of joke, just the first I'd heard of it.
I can't find anything about it. I'm not even sure what to search for.
This was the first time that I saw it back in 2012:
I don't know why an iPad would be barely usable in three years. I have one twice that age, but I hold onto things a long time: cars 10 years, iPhone seven years, house 33 years, wife 38 years. I don't need new stuff, and she's glad.
It's a present and I might have to produce it at some point. I guess I'll have to go with the extreme timeline. Like in a thousand year this will be a really cool relic of a once powerful civilization.
I would love to see you produce it though. "Hey do you still have that iPad I gave you?" "Yeah here it is, in the original packaging, never opened and never used."
Not awkward at all.
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