Yeah, the rutabega design pattern....what that's not a word?

The other day, I was involved in a conversation that I feel I must share. I was talking to someone who used the phrase "agnostic" as a descriptor for some of the code I have to deal with. My response was,"eh?? that doesn't really make sense....agnostic code, that seems um.... uncomplimentary..". So we had a quick discussion of the phrase's use, followed by a quick meriam-webster online dictionary lookup, some head scratching, then just a short laugh at how strange it was.

The originator of this phrase (who I'll name as Bob (to protect the innocent)) and the guy who I had the conversation with originally (who I'll call Goliath) apparently revisited the discussion the following day and sent me their IM chain.

Goliath says: Hey you've used the word "agnostic" in reference to code, right?
Bob says: hmm....sorta
Bob says: platform agnostic
Goliath says: yeah
Bob says: so yeah
Goliath says: that's what I told my guys yesterday
Goliath says: but now we think that doesn't make sense
Bob says: really
Goliath says: well, it makes vague sense
Goliath says: but only barely
Bob says: it should
Bob says: see - most people just like the way it sounds
Bob says: don't really think about it
Goliath says: the non-religious-related definition is "one who is doubtful or noncommittal"
Goliath says: oh yeah - I like the way it sounds
Goliath says: but then I got called out on it
Goliath says: which, you know, is what I pay my guys to do
Bob says: it's doubtful code
Bob says: surely they'd buy that
Goliath says: they would if they knew us
Bob says: we've demonstrated our ability to cause concern/doubt
Goliath says: well now it fits PERFECTLY
Goliath says: thank you for clearing it up for me
Bob says: no problem

So this made me laugh...pretty hard. Let me know if you find it funny too.