Ask Animal: Trick Names

by Animal

Question: How do tricks get named?

Funny you should ask.  

I came up with a new move today.  It’s a variation of the Matrix, using three Myachis.  Two are thrown towards the inverted hand, and only one is verted out.  The dropped Myachi is caught, and then the second of the thrown Myachis is gathered on the stationary hand. After sticking it a few times, I earned the right to name this new trick.  

See technically whoever invents the move names it, but that's just a technicality.  For the name to stick, I've got some work to do.  So what to call this new move?

Creativity is the key to success, in both trick and name.  If it’s too complicated, people won’t do it.  If the name doesn’t fit, they’ll come up with a name of their own that does sound good.

The best place to start is looking at what the trick is like, or what it’s based on.  Since I had a move based on the Matrix, I decided to go with a name from the movie trilogy.  Neo was out, because of the chest stall, but Morpheous wasn’t. Neither was the Oracle.  But neither of those stuck.  It just didn’t capture the flavor of the move.

Flavor?

Yes, flavor.  Myachi tricks have been named after pop culture since the beginning.  The name of the trick should help convey what the trick does.  The Knuckle Cracker was the original name of a great trick, but nobody wanted to do it, for fear of early onset arthritis.  But in 2003, when the terrible version of the Incredible Hulk came out, the name changed, and now everyone knows how to do the Hulk.

The same is true for moves like Spider Man, Wolverine, and Daredevil.  Originally, they were the Extreme, the Egg Beater, and the Shadow Pass.  But as culture shifted, so did the name of the game.

In the case of this new, unnamed trick, I looked at all my options.

1.     It’s based on the Matrix (the trick).

2.     It uses three sacks instead of two.

3.     It’s not a particularly easy trick, so using a cool characters name is a little selfish.

Since Morpheus is obviously the coolest character who doesn’t have a move named after him (right?), I couldn’t use him.  The three sacks bit gnawed at me for a bit, until I hit on a geek goldmine.

Maniacs of the world, I present “The Trinity.”

So let’s review.

1.     The inventor gets to name the trick.

2.     Popular convention may change the name of your trick.

3.     Keeping the name creative and relevant to the nature of the trick is important.

Now, if that's too much to keep track of, you can also go with Kore’s answer: "We open the dictionary, point at a word, and go with it."