Comment by phaed | Hacker News Reader

Comment by phaed | Hacker News Reader

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All the best named projects give you an idea of what the project is about without having to describe it.

Bootstrap definition - of a person or project, using one's own resources rather than external help. (describes the project.)

Foundation definition - an underlying basis or principle for something. synonyms: basis, starting point, base... (describes the project)

Skeleton definition - an internal or external framework of bone, cartilage, or other rigid material supporting or containing the body of an animal or plant. (describes the project)

Blueprint definition - a photographic print that shows how something will be made (describes the project)

Pure definition - not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material. (describes the project)

Groundwork definition - preliminary or basic work. (describes the project)

Materialize definition - [Material] Google's design guidelines [ize] make or become. (describes the project)

Columnal definition - archaic of, like, or relating to a column (describes the project)

TopCoat definition - the last layer of paint that is put on a surface (describes the project)

Ink definition - a colored fluid used for writing, drawing, printing, or duplicating. (describes the project)

Bulma definition - "bloomers", or women's loose-fitting knee-length underpants. Also Japanese for short gym shorts worn by girls. (who the fuck named this thing)

Counter argument: some of the most used software systems in history have names that have almost 0 connection to what they're doing (unless you're willing to go through contortions to figure out their name, see recursive acronyms).

Chrome - web browser?

C - programming language? (actually almost all programming languages suffer from this problem; most libraries or frameworks have this problem as well)

Skype - video/audio chat?

Firefox - web browser?

Excel - spreadsheets?

Spring - Java framework?

Etc.

For all the discussions about naming I see on Hackernews, I see little evidence that naming actually matters when selecting a product. The only correlation I'd expect would be some sort of immediate negative connotation. I.e. someone names a video editing app something like "Disaster".

You sort of made my point...

Chrome definition - the user interface overhead that surrounds user data and web page content. (describes the project)

C definition - because its features were derived from an earlier language called "B" (describes the project)

Skype definition - originated from the words "sky" and "peer." (describes the project)

Firefox definition - originally titled Phoenix, the mythical firebird that rose triumphantly from the ashes of its dead predecessor (Netscape). Phoenix was eventually renamed, due to trademark issues, to Firefox. (describes the project)

Excel definition - to be exceptionally good at or proficient in an activity or subject. (describes the project)

Spring definition - to move or jump suddenly or rapidly upward or forward. (describes the project)

Ummm... you have a really weird definition for "describes the project".

Describes the project IMHO means: if I give a note with the application name to a person who hasn't yet used it or heard of it, he'll be able to sort of figure out what the software does based on the name.

There's no way someone who hasn't ever heard about "Chrome" will figure out that it's a web browser (only browser developers and a decent group of web developers even know that the browser interface is called "chrome" in jargon).

If you have to go into the project's history/lore/archives/jargon, the name doesn't "describe the project".

If you want some examples of "describes the project", Notepad, Wordpad, Internet Explorer, iTunes, iPhone, these are some examples of names that actually "describe" :)

Re: Chrome. When it was introduced it was small and fast. IOW, it didn't have a lot of chrome in the trucker sense. Now it is big and slow and does have a lot of chrome is the trucker sense.

"Bulma definition - "bloomers", or women's loose-fitting knee-length underpants. Also Japanese for short gym shorts worn by girls."

I'm from the UK and have never heard of this word Bulma. I agree it's not a pleasant-sounding word (too close to bulimia to me). Is this a commonly understood word in the US? Or is it slang? A quick search in the Cambridge Online dictionary (in both British and American English) comes up empty. It may be that the author wasn't aware of the meaning.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/

Its not, Bulma is a character in DragonBall-Z, she was named after Japanese gym shorts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulma

Her name "Buruma" is the Japanese pronunciation of "bloomer", a type of gym shorts worn by Japanese girls at school.[5][7][8][9] As with most characters in the Dragon Ball series, Bulma's name is consistent with those of the rest of her family. All of Bulma's family members are named after underclothing of some sort.[9] Her father's name is Dr. Briefs, while her son and daughter are named Trunks and Bra (ブラ Bura?, "Bulla" in the English anime dub) respectively.

Pretty sure the author meant to name the framework after the character and failed to realize what the character was named after.

I found this hilarious. Genuinely interested in hearing if there's a meaning behind the name.

the man/woman probably just likes dragonball z.

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