> The real problem here is that we have only two terms which we're using to try to distinguish between three different concepts.

It's still only two concepts, there's just the side effect of Java and friends' implicit pointers that makes things muddier. The Java function

    void swap(Object x, Object y) {
        Object temp = x;
        x = y;
        y = temp;
    }

is equivalent to the C program

    void swap(void *x, void *y)
    {
        void *temp = x;
        x = y;
        y = temp;
    }

and it has the same bug for the same reason. It's only the implicit nature of references in languages like Java that makes it not look like pass by value, but that implicit nature is there in other places as well (eg, the Java code 'Object x = y' is equivalent to the C code 'void *x = y').

I think the best approach is to just call it what it is, pass by value, and then also remind people if need be that objects are always pointers so it's passing a pointer by value.