Names is for tombstones, baby!
– “Mr. Big” in “Live and Let Die”

There are times, and in my view quite a few, when names are irrelevant.  I’m not necessarily referring to names of people, like the quote above was, but I am referring to names of “things” (e.g., styles, methodologies, technology).

On the computer programming side of my life, I’ve often ran into cases where I see mention of some sort of technology or methodology listed in some job requirements that I’ve never heard of, yet upon further research is something that I’ve known or dealt with for years.

Why?  Well, somewhere along the course of that “thing’s” lifespan, which often doesn’t happen at “birth”, it is given a name.  The early adopters have internalized the mechanics or methods and go on with their roles as programmers without giving it any further thought.  It’s become part of their daily routine.

Those who come along after it’s become more common-place (and therefore the marketing people have come along to bestow upon it a name) know it as “Such-and-Such” or “SaS” and think that anyone who doesn’t know “SaS” doesn’t know the stuff behind the name.

On the design and photography sides of my life, the same can be said for particular artistic styles.  Although here, it’s more that I’ve come into knowing of a particular style organically.  I’ve developed a particular style from observing others final works, not from some book of styles or style/design course.

In this method of learning, you learn to recognize (or adopt) the outcome, what a particular style (or combination of styles) looks like.  Most of the time, this type of learning will not teach you the names of the styles.  Those you’ll have to go in search of on your own at another point in time, if at all.

This post derived from my attempt at putting into words the particular style that I use for designing sites for another post.  I quickly realized that I couldn’t.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t know “SaS” style, it just means that I don’t know that’s what it’s named.

So.  The next time that you’re discussing something with someone else, before you assume they don’t know what “SaS” is, try describing it in terms other than it’s name.  They might fully understand and know it, but if all you use is the name, they might assume that you only know the name.  You do know more than just the name, right?

Conversely, if you get to the point where you are trying to name something and you can’t, perhaps that’s a sign that you need to go back to school (so to speak) and look into whether or not such a name does exist.

But, remember, “Names is for tombstones, baby!”  So don’t go putting too much emphasis on knowing the names for things.