Althouse: Mike Snowplowski, Sno'diggity, Snowceratops, Anne Pathaway, Princess Sleigha, and Plower to the People.

March 8, 2025

Mike Snowplowski, Sno'diggity, Snowceratops, Anne Pathaway, Princess Sleigha, and Plower to the People.

In what was a democratic process, the city of Madison has named 6 of its snowplows.

49 comments:

rehajm said...: For Madison that’s very good. Could have been waaay worse…; 3/8/25, 8:07 AM
Iman said...: Cheese Louise!; 3/8/25, 8:09 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: This feels like Millenial humor was involved in these choices. Though I did chuckle at Anne Pathaway.; 3/8/25, 8:11 AM
Temujin said...: In other news, in an effort to highlight the dangers of democracy, the City of Madison took on the chore of naming it's snowplows.; 3/8/25, 8:11 AM
gilbar said...: seem like good names.
i'm partial to Anne Pathaway. but they all seem to roll off the tongue.
i DO think that Snowasaurus would have been more better for the dinosaur; 3/8/25, 8:11 AM
john mosby said...: Runners up: Push Away Whitey, White Guilt, No More Flakey White Stuff, Free the Black(top), White Christmas My Ass!

JSM; 3/8/25, 8:15 AM
rehajm said...: …so this seemed too banal and human and fun for a liberal safe-space like Madison so I went in search of the liberal angle that wrecks it. 60 seconds later: it’s a ploy to get voters comfortable with ranked-choice voting. It looks like most blue places run the same contest. Tim Walz is involved in MN.; 3/8/25, 8:16 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: JSM = Best names yet. Recount Madison?; 3/8/25, 8:17 AM
Kirk Parker said...: Where's Plowey McPlowface?; 3/8/25, 8:21 AM
Iman said...: Blacktop Johnson… Giggity Diggity; 3/8/25, 8:25 AM
BudBrown said...: Mad plow disease; 3/8/25, 8:25 AM
Kate said...: Will their names be painted on the side of the machine, maybe with a pin-up illustration, like a fighter plane? Will the drivers get call sign names?; 3/8/25, 8:26 AM
Iman said...: Chuy Blanco; 3/8/25, 8:27 AM
Meade said...: Democratic shemoratic. My entry, “Ice Cream Social-ist” didn’t receive a single vote. I blame myself though for not working harder to make it Too Big Rig To Rig Big.; 3/8/25, 8:29 AM
Leland said...: Fighting the patriarchy with rolling dad jokes.; 3/8/25, 8:31 AM
Iman said...: Madison Snowshoe… Birkenstock Express… Hippy Slippy…; 3/8/25, 8:31 AM
JAORE said...: Now have a contest to name the 10 worst potholes in the city. Oh what fun to be in Madison.; 3/8/25, 8:32 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I asked Grok to go much more edgy and political and here are some of its ideas for snowplow names:

Snowcialist Redistributor

Plowpocalypse Now

Sno-bortion Machine

Plowmiscuous Slutshoveler; 3/8/25, 8:33 AM
Meade said...: Icefirmatve Action; 3/8/25, 8:39 AM
Patrick said...: I bet the guy who gets to ride Anne Pathaway is happy; 3/8/25, 8:46 AM
Peachy said...: No Snowplow McSnowplow face?
In any case- very clever... Those are not bad.; 3/8/25, 8:50 AM
Meade said...: Butch Snowblower and the Transdance Kid; 3/8/25, 8:56 AM
BudBrown said...: Can a snow plow plow beach sand off the roads?; 3/8/25, 9:09 AM
Meade said...: Why did the ICE agent visit the Sanctuary City with a snowplow? To break the ice and clear the way for a chilly reception!; 3/8/25, 9:11 AM
rehajm said...: Resist ICE, All This Snow Doesn’t Mean Climate Change Isn’t Real, That’s Not Funny…; 3/8/25, 9:12 AM
Kevin said...: Plowy McPlowface; 3/8/25, 9:13 AM
mikee said...: I, for one, propose a more serious name: Bladeface, Despoiler of Drifts.; 3/8/25, 9:19 AM
chuck said...: Madison is a backwater, six snowplow city.; 3/8/25, 9:26 AM
Aggie said...: The craze is taking the nation by storm !

The Big Leplowski - Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission
Blizzard of Oz - Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Buzz Iceclear - Vermont Agency of Transportation
Snowprah Winfrey - Michigan Department of Transportation
Scoop! There It Is - Minnesota Department of Transportation
Sears Plower - Chicago Streets and Sanitation
Catch My Drift - Vermont Agency of Transportation
Melton John - Michigan Department of Transportation
SnowBeGone Kenobi - Nevada Department of Transportation
Better Call Salt - Minnesota Department of Transportation
Yer a Blizzard, Harry - Minnesota Department of Transportation
Han Snowlo - Minnesota Department of Transportation
Snowba Fett - City of Boulder
Sherlock Snowmes - Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Grateful Sled - City of Boulder
Edgar Allan Snow Michigan Department of Transportation
CTRL-SALT-DELETE - Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission
Cirque du Snowleil - Nevada Department of Transportation
Ploward - Vermont Agency of Transportation
Sleetwood Mac - Michigan Department of Transportation
Clearopathra - Minnesota Department of Transportation
Fast and Flurrious - Vermont Agency of Transportation
Sled Zeppelin - Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Scoopy Doo - Vermont Agency of Transportation
Plowthagorean Theorem - Michigan Department of Transportation; 3/8/25, 9:48 AM
Aggie said...: Snow-pocalypse Plow.; 3/8/25, 9:49 AM
ga6 said...: Being Madison did they require pronouns in addition to the proper names?; 3/8/25, 10:02 AM
wildswan said...: Can anything good come out of Madison? Maybe this. I looked at the contestant pictures and read the resumes and it seems that several kinds of plows were involved. Anne Pathaway is a dainty little plow which clears paths in parks while Snowceratops is a great beast of a combined truck/plow that assaults snow build-up. I see it taking on blizzard-struck highways and winning. Meanwhile, Ann Pathaway may be enabling our beloved dawn pictures. Perhaps the glass in half-full even in Madison.; 3/8/25, 10:39 AM
Eva Marie said...: Sno-bortion! I might buy a snowplow here in AZ just so I can call it the Sno-bortion Machine.; 3/8/25, 10:39 AM
narciso said...: like Alaskas Boaty McBoat face name for a ferry,; 3/8/25, 10:43 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Madison is a backwater, six snowplow city."

Grok says: "No, Madison, Wisconsin does not have only six snowplows. The idea that the city names six snowplows might have sparked this question, but the actual number of snow removal vehicles is much higher. According to information from the City of Madison’s official website, the Streets Division deploys around 150 pieces of equipment for citywide plowing operations when a significant snow event (typically three or more inches) occurs. This includes trucks from the Streets Division, Parks, Engineering, and additional heavy equipment from contractors. During lighter snowfalls or ongoing storms, 32 trucks are specifically assigned to maintain the city’s salt route network, which covers nearly half of Madison’s traffic lanes.... Cities often name a handful of plows for community engagement, but Madison, with nearly 1,800 miles of traffic lanes to clear, relies on a robust fleet far exceeding six. So, rest assured, the city’s got more than a half-dozen plows keeping the streets navigable."; 3/8/25, 10:44 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I can see that I created the confusion by writing "the city of Madison has named its 6 snowplows."

Should have written "the city of Madison has named 6 of its snowplows."

Will change that.; 3/8/25, 10:45 AM
john mosby said...: Black(top) Lines Matter!

JSM; 3/8/25, 11:01 AM
DLH said...: In Maryland I think one of the final three was Control, Salt,delete. I laughed on the way into work; 3/8/25, 11:04 AM
Eva Marie said...: Scott Adams says that AI can’t write jokes because
1. it can’t test its jokes on humans in order to refine them and 2. we humans seek a human connection in the arts.
I don’t know if either of these assumptions are correct. I laughed at a lot of the names above and it really didn’t matter to me if they were human or AI created.; 3/8/25, 11:22 AM
gilbar said...: wildswan mentioned that
"Anne Pathaway is a dainty little plow which clears paths in parks"

wow! i'm very happy to hear that.. I liked her name immediately, but rejoice to hear that she'll Really be working on paths (parkroads anyway); 3/8/25, 11:30 AM
John said...: Kirk Parker at 8:21!; 3/8/25, 12:25 PM
Chris-2-4 said...: As others have referenced, the omission of "Plowy McPlowface" is egregious!; 3/8/25, 12:56 PM
Rocco said...: Kate said...
“Will their names be painted on the side of the machine, maybe with a pin-up illustration, like a fighter plane? Will the drivers get call sign names?”

They’ll paint a snowball on the driver’s door for every mission completed (ie, snowfall ploughed).; 3/8/25, 1:47 PM
rehajm said...: They’ll paint a snowball on the driver’s door for every mission completed (ie, snowfall ploughed)

…also mailboxes killed in battle…; 3/8/25, 2:45 PM
Josephbleau said...: I would say, Snowman the Barbarian. “To crush the black ice, To see the drifts driven before me, and to hear the lamentations of parked car owners.”; 3/8/25, 6:41 PM
Quaestor said...: In a city full of career Wisconsin bureaucrats and UW Madison academics, the output of that democratic process was remarkably un-witty.; 3/8/25, 8:07 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: Nobody wanted a Snow Job?; 3/8/25, 8:30 PM
Rusty said...: Plowie McPlowface. A Small Plow the Size of a Large Plow. Mailbox Killer. Bury The Cars. Plowed right into it.; 3/9/25, 7:43 AM
Lazarus said...: Edgar Allan Snow Michigan Department of Transportation

That would have been more appropriate for Baltimore, though it would only remind people that today, as in Poe's day, what the plows are likely to uncover are dead bodies.; 3/9/25, 10:04 AM