Code Smell 265 - Linguistic Confusion

Overcomplicating Naming Leads to Chaos

TL;DR: Naming is hard, don't make it harder with unnecessary accidental complexity.

Problems

Unclear, misleading, vague, and ambiguous names
Redundant terminology
Confusing abstractions
Cryptic abbreviations

Solutions

Simplify naming conventions
Ensure consistency
Avoid unnecessary jargon
Use descriptive names based on behavior
Maintain consistent terminology

Context

Ludwig Wittgenstein argued that much confusion arises from language misuse.

This happens when you overcomplicate names, mix metaphors, or use inconsistent terminology.

When you name classes, methods, or variables without clarity, you create a linguistic maze that others struggle to navigate.

This causes bugs, makes maintenance harder, and leads to team frustration.

Sample Code

Wrong

public class AbstractDataHandlerManager {
    private String dtStr;
    
    public void execProcessingOps(String input) {
        if (dtStr != null && !dtStr.isEmpty()) {
            // process
        }
    }
}

Right

public class SETIProcessor {
    
    public void processSignal(String input) {      
            // process
        }
    }
}

Detection

[X] Manual

You can detect this smell when names start to get long, or when you see "Abstract", "Manager," "Handler," "Helper", or "Data" too often.

Another sign is when you must explain what a name means to other developers for example in a code review.

Level

[X] Beginner

AI Generation

AI generators often create this smell by producing verbose and generic names that attempt to cover every possible context.

They are experts in many domains and write code, but frequently they don't do both at once unless instructed.

AI Detection

AI generators can sometimes fix this smell with simple refactoring instructions like "simplify names" or "remove redundant terms," but struggle with deeper contextual understanding.