A Rose by Any Other Name is a … Dandelion?

Extract

What is more powerful than a name? It is an identification of self. Authors have used the giving of names as an important story telling device. In some mythologies, knowing a person's name gives power over that person. Throughout Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, names were given a special place, sometimes being used as talismans against evil and other times as call to arms. Characters are found guilty of acts and the first judgment is to call the person by a different name as part of the penalty.

Indeed, during the Middle Ages, names were used to identify people by their skill – Cooper, Smith, Cook, Brewer, and the like. Even today, we speak about people who have difficulty when they retire, as their personal identity is lost to them. Revolutions have been won and lost by the choice of names. Patriots are seen as rebels (until they win). Names convey authority (Mr. President). They describe the major characteristics of a person (Attila was described as the “Scourge of God”). They delineate separateness as in “Doctor”, “Reverend”, or “Senator”.

Throughout the latter half of the 20^th century, people working in the clinical laboratory have clamored for a single organization, a single certification and a single name. After all, they say, “No one knows who we are”.

And this is what makes the current situation so unusual. Two years ago, a single certification agency was created with a specified terminology for those credentialed by that group. Now, we would be one.