Bill, help me name this parser.

What kind of parser is it?

An English parser.

... :)

You know, it's a brilliant name. It's a person's name, like Siri or Cortana. But if they'd named it Jane or John, the mass media would have a fit. So they side-stepped that by making it sound computer-y, while remaining a proper name. Brilliant.

Most likely it's a joke on the refused Boaty McBoatface vote http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-britain-boaty-mcboatface...

Oh, I hadn't picked that up, that's genius! It's not just a parser of English. It's an English parser (with the sense of humour appropriate thereto).

Why is everything English only? :( there are other languages too.

#otherlanguagesmatters

Because we didn't win the II World War... :).

(INB4 yes, that's the reference to an old joke about Lufthansa pilot in Frankfurt complaining he's forced to speak in English to the control tower)

Honestly though, English is a quite good starting language due to its simplicity, but I do hope more attention will be expended on making the technology like this trainable on other languages as well.

Simplicity!?

Maybe SyntaxNet could be trained to parse other languages.

OMG...

According to the section titled "Why is Parsing So Hard For Computers to Get Right?" in the blog post, determining the difference between "An English parser" and "An English parser" .. is Parsey's great strength.

Five stars, would pun again.

> But if they'd named it Jane or John, the mass media would have a fit.

Why would they have a fit if Google named it Jane or John?

It's a joke on the boat naming saga

I used to have a woman in my life, pumpkin latte sipping, wanna-be graphic designer and that is how she referred to everything xx-y mc-xx-yface seemingly in an attempt to remain a teenager well into her third decade.

I am so glad to be rid of her vapid nonsense.

It is a silly name and makes me think it is not a serious effort. But names can be deceiving.

You mean like a primary color scheme that looks like a child's playground?

Seriously though, this is just a joke on an Internet meme. Quit being a buzzkill.

They're not wearing suits to work either, so not really a serious company anyway.

Perhaps they were broken hearted that Boaty McBoatface wasn't accepted.

It was accepted for a submarine.

But... that's not a boat. Shouldn't it be Subby McSubface?

It's the remotely controlled support vehicle.

Remotey Remoteface?

Droney McDroneface?

Subs are boats.

They're subnautical vehicles. They're beneath that.

The German name, "Unterseeboat", and the English adaptation, "U-boat" both imply that they are a type of boat.

I'm starting to suspect some dark humour here. But it runs silent, runs deep. And seems to have gotten all wet.

Well I guess in that instance Boaty McFloaty was automatically disqualified.

Careful now, that's humor, and we frown upon that around these parts. D:

Boaty mcdouble?

If Parsey McParseface can parse its own name, it is considered what's called self-hosting....

... _self-parsing_?

Making up for their Gmail April fools fail.

Yeah I'm just happy that SOMEONE here got it.

Right, is this name for this product a sign that Google is becoming more human, and less engineering extreme sports minded?

I think you're reading too much into it (If you're being serious).

Doubt it had any other meaning other than the team just having fun making a quip at the Boaty Mcboatface poll for a ship's name.

Yes, I was being playful with language, rather than straight serious. But this topic invites that.

This is from research not production, researchers in my experience are usually up for this type of fun

I'm pretty sure the borders between the two are fluid at google.

I also wish middle management were a bit less afraid of such things. You can usually get cool ideas approved in the higher echolons (because a CEO doesn't have to fear too much, or possibly because these people actually are more imaginative).

Names that have meaning, tell a story are incredibly useful for marketing, even if they sometimes sound unprofessional. Exp: 'Plan B' (morning after pill), 'CockroachDB', 'Virgin'.

It's beyond me how anyone could have chosen the predictable public outcry instead of naming that boat Boaty McBoatface. That's probably the least offending name that ever resulted from an internet poll.

Interesting, this could explain internal acronym products/services. Middle management is the decision maker. Helpy McHelpdesk vs ITHD

Acronyms develop more because they're concise and so easier to say and use to those who know what it means.

If Helpy McHelpdesk got into widespread use, it'd probably soon become more referred to as the HMH.

>> That's probably the least offending name that ever resulted from an internet poll.

Indeed. e.g. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/dub-the-dew