It’s December and for many nations, it is the most wonderful time of the year because of the festivities that the holiday season brings. It’s also wintertime and for countries near the polar extremities of Earth, such as Scotland, temperatures drop low enough to make roads filled with snow, which is really hazardous for drivers.
Don’t worry, as snowplows – or gritters as they’re called in the Highlands – are there to keep the roads clear and safe. While that can be a mundane thing to write about, the Scots have actually found a way to add a little humor: by giving the gritters punny names.
From musician-derived puns like David Plowie, Gritallica, and Gritney Spears, to Stars Wars references such as Han Snow-lo, Darth Spreader, and Snowbegone Kenobi, you just can’t hate Scottish humor. Our favorite, of course, is I Want To Break Freeze. We bet Spready Mercury’s cool with that.
According to the BBC, the Scots have started the tradition of naming their gritters back in 2006. Back then, Transport for Scotland decided to run a competition for small children, finding the best gritter names. In 2016, an online tracker for gritters was launched and is still live as of this writing.
Here’s the list of Scotland’s gritter names, according to Herald Scotland:
| Amber Snowy | Grit Expectations | Ice Breaker | Nitty McGritty | Sir Grits A Lot | Spready Mercury |
| Arctic Angel | Gritallica | Ice Destroyer | Penelope Gritstop | Sir Salter Scott | Sprinkebell |
| BFG Big Friendly Gritter | Gritney Spears | Ice Queen | Plougher O’Scotland | Slippy McGritty | Sprinkles |
| Blizzard Bear | Gritter Bug | Jeremy Brine | Polar Bear Explorer | Snow Bother | The Golden Great Gritter |
| Chilly Connolly | Grittest Hits | Lew-Ice Capaldi | Polar Patroller | Snow Destroyer | The Grittest Snowman |
| Darth Spreader | Grittie McVittie | Licence To Chill | Ready Spready Go | Snow Dozer | The Incredible Ice Bear |
| David Plowie | Grittle Mix | Luke Snowalker | Rumble | Snow Trooper | The Snow Buster |
| For Your Ice Only | Gritty Gonzales | Meltin’ John | Salty | Snowball | The Snow Solution |
| Fred | Gritty Gritty Bang Bang | Mr. Plow | Sandy The Solway Salter | Snowbegone Kenobi | The Winter Explorer |
| Gangsta Granny Gritter | Han Snow-lo | Mrs. Gritter | Scotland’s Bravest Gritter | Snowkemon Go | True Gritter |
| Grit A Bit | I Want To Break Freeze | My Name’5 Doddie | Sir Andy Flurry | Sophie Salt | Yes Sir Ice Can Boogie |
What’s your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.