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> Friends,
>
> I have been provided with a list of acceptable names to use in a
> training project that includes things like "Deadlines, Expects Many,"
> "Flare, Shiny Red" and "Paint, Many Colors."
Distracting, to say the least. These are supposed to be used
as persons' names? They seem like badly-done mock Native American
names. I wouldn't go there.
> As an alternative, I presented a list of names like "Sarah Bellum,"
> "Les Payne," and "Jean Poole" (it's a medical application) and most
> people liked it. But there is an objection that if it could possibly
> be a name of someone anywhere that it can't be used.
Those are cute for native English-speaking audiences.
Hint: pronounce "Jean" with a proper French accent.
It sounds nothing at all like "jeen" (more like zhan,
where you clip it off halfway through the "n"),
and an ESL speaker/reader whose mother tongue is French
would have no clue that there's a pun in there for "gene".
> Someone pointed out that if Beyonce can name her daughter "Blue Ivy"
> that nothing can be ruled out for a name. But some are still fearful
> of consequences.
"Someone" is right. And if you went with totally generic name
replacements, like "Person of Interest", somebody would complain that
that made users or beneficiaries of your technology sound criminal.
Milan probably has the right idea, although, y'know, one
of my brothers had a childhood buddy named Dougie Doctor,
who came from a whole family of Doctors, hardly any of
whom were... er... doctors.
And if somebody has not yet named their child Patient or
Technician, it's a safe bet that it's only a matter of
time.
My vote is with Milan's scheme.
- k
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