Phil McCann isn’t the only victim of nominative determinism – 14 brilliantly apt names
At the start of the fuel crisis, the BBC sent out the perfect journalist to report on the situation.
The correspondent the BBC sent to cover the petrol shortage this morning is called Phil McCann pic.twitter.com/t64piutcg6
— Talia Shadwell (@TaliaShadwell) September 25, 2021
He was the talk of Twitter, featuring in posts like these –
Who did it best? Rob Banks or Phil McCann?#PetrolShortages #panicbuying pic.twitter.com/tD4rDYETrp
— Paul Benson (@PaulAlanBenson) September 25, 2021
Hahaha!
Love this reporters name.
Well played BBC pic.twitter.com/2OBwFIEvEB— joe heenan (@joeheenan) September 25, 2021
Im fucking done me 😂 reporting from a petrol station…. With no petrol…… PHIL MCCANN 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/XNaVcG0m4w
— David McGrath (@cunnyfunt87) September 25, 2021
It might have been a little wearing for him.
Today has been… pic.twitter.com/wHT4WZUHdK
— Phil McCann (@phi1mccann) September 25, 2021
The force at work here was nominative determinism – the concept that their name might make someone particularly drawn to a task or profession, such as Mr Banks in Mary Poppins, who worked in a bank, or the real-world banker, Rich Ricci. Not a joke.
Reddit’s r/NominativeDeterminism forum contains thousands of examples of the phenomenon in the wild. We chose some favourites.
Think of these as the first draft for Happy Families.
1. The obstetrician
2. The chef
3. Vegetarian cookery writer
4. The financier
5. The urologist
6. The Horticulturalist
7. The funeral director
