That's fair. Originally asm.js was named capsule.js but that was taken and didn't really mean what it was. We could also call it modules but there is another very related spec out there for that as well. What would you call it instead?
This, I think is just a library or archive (in the ar/ranlib sense; https://sourceware.org/binutils/docs/binutils/ar.html#ar) of code that the browser loads over the Internet.
Java hit a jackpot calling such a thing a jar, a word that is both shorthand for "Java archive" and a noun describing a container. That suggests looking at words such as 'bottle', 'box', 'cask', 'pot' (nice word, but its connotations do not make it a winner), 'cup', 'amphora', 'pithos' (not well-known enough, and typically unmovable), 'crate' (taken by rust), or 'vase' but I can't find a nice alternative interpretation as an abbreviation ('Jug' has a 'j' that could mean JavaScript, but I think we would be looking for something with a W for 'web' or I for 'internet') or even something that sounds good ('crate' is growing on me, but already taken by rust. That shows that other terms might grow to become acceptable, too. Maybe 'jug' could be such a word?)
Have an upvote and a ಠ_ಠ.
I actually think being browser agnostic is more important; it is sort of the reason we're even looking at wasm replacing asm.js in the first place. asm.js is still javascript, even though it gets handled differently under the covers. Having a second option of language supported by all major browsers is a huge deal, especially one with static typing.
As for the naming thing, a little bit of bikeshedding is healthy from time to time.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_file
Of course the term "object" is confusingly overloaded too...
Not like anyone aside from Apple uses WebObjects seriously anymore...
Also, there's a reason the description is a bit fuzzy on the WebAssembly landing page. It's not just a binary format (in fact, we didn't have a binary format for a while after we started). I like to think that it's a specification of execution semantics that can be expressed in many different formats (text, binary, AST, etc.). Not sure that's the easiest way to explain it though.