> the value of using a broader selection of terms is that you (and therefore all the other programmers you’re collaborating with), are able to be more descriptive about what it is precisely that you need “to do.”
But that's what the space after `TODO:` is for. To say what it is you need to do later.
The less complexity you add, the less you have to maintain. This mainly applies to things of a certain smaller scale, but I find I encounter `TODO` in my code when I am in a certain scope or just have some free time to refactor, fix things, etc., neither of which require anything beyond a searchable string, as you mentioned.
This reminds me of any note taking app that uses #tags. You start in earnest and tag things; you end up with twelve different tags for #cooking, #baking, #food, #recipes, etc. because you forgot which one was which when organizing; it falls into disarray; you are left with unusable cruft, so you end up just searching for "bread" in the search bar, anyway.