pop quiz - what would you call this?

Anne and I were sitting and considering whether to paddle in here or not. It's the North Sea. We decided not. And we thought that a lot of our reason for not doing it is the name. There's not much that's appealing about the name; 'The North Sea'. Sure, you can conjure up some romantic associations to do with duffle coats and chips but not enough to kick-start a paddling industry.

So here's a quicky Planning School assignment - what's a better name for the North Sea? Add your answer to this post. A new name and a 20-word explanation of that name. Best answer done in the next 7 days wins a signed copy of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. (Signed by him, not me, I bought it at Borders)

Comments

[Kevin R]

The Viking Sea

Tell a story of the sea lanes the vikings navigated to plunder and pillage and what-not. Of course I'm naive and American so that might actually be terrible.

[russell]

A strong start from Kevin.

[Corentin]

The Pelamis Sea

Pelamis = Giant snake in the greek mythology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelamis

1) Reference to the Loch Ness
2) Introduction of a metalic sea snake to produce energy at the begining of the year!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1062-2031280,00.html

[martin cole]

the ice cream sea.

everytime you go in, you get an "ice cream headache". that sea should be renamed to keep you OUT of it, not encourage you in. it's minging. i should know, i grew up next to it.

hope you're well...

m

[Tom N]

Atlantic Springs

The Atlantic is a recognizable and quite agreeable body of water, and 'springs' connotes refreshment and rejuvination.

And it sounds like you could drink from it too.

[Luca Vergano]

The Spleen Sea

all the beaches up north have this kind of sensation, I always thought. Low clouds, deep blue and cold water, a general reflective feeling.

[nateA]

Northern Passage

The “North” remains in the name, keeping the recognition of the previous one. Passage, connotes a sense of mystery and exploration: the unknown. It also hints at a direction or final destination, while also being the link of northern Europe.

[armando rico]

No lo conzco, nisiquiera la gran bretaña pero creo que se debería llamar: Wik Sea original name of the vikings.

[Rusty-Chubb]

New World Passage

Speaks to escaping the old in search of something different. 'Passage' is a more manageable, less intimidating body of water to navigate. Where are my flippers?

[Dino]

Frisian Sea. Or, Frisian Channel.

Lot of interesting suggestions, from the hybrid language (Dutch, German, English) to the vague sense of sounding a little like "freezing", which I'm sure it can be!

[Jonathan]

The Sea of Refreshment

Cold water has always been a source of refreshment. And the North Sea is full of the good stuff.

[Jonathan]

No wait. Can I post another one?
Anyways, here goes:

Caribbean Holiday Resort

Because, as a matter of fact and with help of the Gulf Stream, the Caribbean retreats here for holidays.

[fernanda]

Surrounded Sea.

It is surrounded by land in almost every of it's sides. Surrounded also gives the feeling of closeness, protection and warmth. I would feel like paddling in.

[Rodney Tanner]

The Norsmen Waters.

Combines North with Viking undertows. Credibity that somebody might have given it some thought; sadly lacking in the origional.

[rob@cynic]

The Sea Of Love ...

For no other reason than being at the seaside is generally a positive and happy experience you share with those you love. [Yeah, sickening isn't it!]

[gemma]

The Sea of Possibility

Reminding us of our great history in exploration and discovery (Drake, Cook etc.)...plus the thought that there might be some stuff out there we don't know about yet.

[RajaB]

Sea of 8 lands (or) 8Lander sea

Located between Norway and Denmark, the UK (England and Scotland), Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

[Blaiq]

I would go for Blue Sea.

We have seas of all colours but none named after the very colour of the sea. Besides what could be more inviting than the Blue Sea?

[Cameron]

The Sea of Imagination

In the sea, you’re disconnected; one of the few times you get to go back to that kid-like imagination state.

[Mark]

The Momento sea (memories and momentum since it's always so rough)

The Saxon Sea (shared heritage of English, Germans and probably one or two others)

[josh]

New Horizons

Drop any reference to water in the name - make it more about what waits on the other side.

[Alex Lewis]

The Sea

Sitting proudly across the Prime Meridian, the earth’s definitive sea. Like British stamps or dot-com domains, no geographical descriptor is needed.

[neil]

I'm from Aberdeen. I grew up on the bleak shores of the North Sea. It may be an obvious choice of nomenclature (it's a sea and it's in the north) but it's a good name. The north sea does what it says on the tin. You don't paddle in the north sea. If you go swimming in the north sea (which you wouldn't do voluntarily, but as a result of your helicopter crashing, or being swept off an oil rig by a gale) you die in about 10 minutes from hypothermia. And that's in August. So, bollocks to all that caribbean / sea of love shit, if you're going to change its name it should be The Icy Sea of Death. Of course, I can see how that rebranding might be bad for the tourist trade.

[Matt]

Brine Superior
This is a large body of salt water to the north of continental Europe. It appears to be a brisk and brackish body of water that would pickle any inhabitant with hypothermia.

[okiu]

The ocean
Why to call it sea when it connects widely and directly with the ocean?