[lake_vincent]

Exactly! It makes no difference to the compiler what you call a variable, but it makes a difference to the human.

Whenever I do a pandas dataframe melt, I name the variable "melted_cheese". I could just name it something plain/boring, but life is simplybetter with melted cheese.

[db48x]

Agreed. A certain amount of word–play is necessary for a happy and healthy life. Sadly I once worked on a team that didn’t understand this.

I had been given the task to add an insignificant feature to a minor subsystem, and by chance the first two methods I added to my class had names that started with the letter A. I had to “ask” the user for confirmation, and I had to “authenticate” a widget. To keep myself interested, I pushed myself to continue the trend. I needed names for about six or eight methods, and the last two were the hardest. I had to lock some files to deny anyone permission to read them, and I had to record the actions taken in a database. I had the implementations written and tested, I just needed good names.

I ended up with the names “afsluiten” (literally “off–close”, or “to close off”) and “αναγράφω” (“anagrapho”, to inscribe, record, or publish). I laughed so much when I found both of them. They were perfect! I committed, pushed to a branch, wrote up a pull request, and then started a two–week vacation the next morning.

I anticipated that on my return we would all laugh at these funny names in our weekly meeting, that the team lead would request that I rename these two methods, and that I would then push to master with English names. Instead, I had a meeting with HR and the VP of Engineering about how I was mocking them, disrespecting their work, how unprofessional it was, and on and on and on. Apparently the team had been stewing on this “insult” for the whole two weeks, making it worse and worse in their minds.

I was rather sad when they fired me, but I have been so much better off ever since; the people I work with now actually know what humor is, and how to play. They can even express admiration and wonder when someone does something clever or slick. It’s like night and day.

[lake_vincent]

Oh my...what an awful way to get back from vacation! It's such a shame when egos get involved like that.

I deeply appreciate that level of wordplay though! Glad it worked out for you in the end, and I hope you have continued to express true creativity in your code :)

[Starwatcher2001]

I came across a council system for recording the holes that ultility companies dig in roads. Often a specific job would require several additional "associated" holes to be dug around the main one.

The programmer chose the filenames: "holes" and "assholes". kudos!

NB: This was MSDOS days when filenames could be a maximum of 8 characters.

[bayindirh]

This is brilliant. I'm archiving this in my Folklore notes.