ReuseGroupName

PROBLEM:

The community needs a name for a group of people.

CONTEXT:

The group has distinct ideas associated with it.

FORCES:

• It's hard to remember the names of even 2 members of a group.
• It's cumbersome to say all of the names of a group's members.
• Using just one member's name seems to attribute all of the group's accomplishments to just that one person.
• You need a label for the group's ideas.

SOLUTION:

Select a name for the group that is memorable and which already exists in another context.

RESULTING CONTEXT:

If people like the new name, they start using it. This confirms the importance of the group in the eyes of the community which uses the name -- people don't usually give names to insignificant groups.

RATIONALE:

• It's funny!
• Your brain is already used to the name.
• Hearing the old name in a new context causes you to pay more attention to it -- you want to know who is important enough to joke about in that way.

EXAMPLES:

• GoF or GangOfFour
  • Old use: Four leaders in China's Cultural Revolution[1]
  • New use: The authors of "DesignPatterns" (Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides).
• The ThreeAmigos
  • Old Use: Numerous... a Comedy movie, for one.
  • New Use: The UnifiedModelingLanguage Guys (Jacobson, Booch, Rumbaugh).
• PartyOfFive
  • Old Use: A Fox TV show.
  • New Use: The authors "Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture" (PoSa).
• Does this count? TheThreeExtremos
  • Old Use: The ThreeAmigos
  • New Use: The ExtremeProgramming guys (KentBeck, WardCunningham, RonJeffries)

Originator: ?

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CategoryPattern