what's in a name
English
Etymology
Coined by William Shakespeare in 1597 in "Romeo and Juliet," act 2, scene 2:
- What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
- By any other name would smell as sweet.
Phrase
- Used to argue that something's name is arbitrary and does not give any information as to its qualities; the names of things do not affect what they really are.
Further reading
- “what's in a name”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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