From the Bell End to Boaty McBoatface: the trouble with letting the public name things

What happens when you put the naming of your new ship/football stand/space station to the people? They start being silly, of course

Never trust the public. Just look at the governments they elect. The clamour to name the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)'s new polar research vessel Boaty McBoatface in an online poll has been so great the website has sunk with all hands. When last seen, it was ahead of the second-most-popular name, Henry Worsley, by several leagues - and increasing its lead at a rate of knots.

There are two standard responses to this collective silliness: delight at the British people's Pythonesque mocking of authority; and despair at our refusal to take anything seriously. In truth, social media's in-built anarchism means it is now almost impossible to hold any sort of online vote without it hitting an internet iceberg.