"Naming the band is always the hardest part"

[denny]

Given my recent entry into the ranks of the unemployed, I thought this might be a good time to try to start my own webdev company, so I don't have to get out of bed in the mornings give a 'boss' a share of my hard-earned cash any more. (Yes, it might also be a really bad time, what with the economy collapsing and nobody spending money on websites.)

Anyway. A while back I bought the domain name liminalminds.com because I liked the sound of it...

Poll #570 Limmy who?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 27

View Respondents

Do you know what 'liminal' means?

View Answers

Yes, and I knew before you asked
15 (55.6%)

I didn't but I do now
5 (18.5%)

Vaguely
4 (14.8%)

No
3 (11.1%)

Is 'Liminal Minds' a good brand-name for a web dev company?

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It's brilliant!
3 (11.1%)

It's alright
9 (33.3%)

Not sure
10 (37.0%)

No
2 (7.4%)

Dear god no!
3 (11.1%)

If somebody said 'liminal minds dot com' to you, would you spell it right?

View Answers

Yes
18 (66.7%)

No
2 (7.4%)

Eventually
7 (25.9%)

Plus, y'know, freestyle in the comments. What associations would the name have for you, what would you think if you heard it as a company name, blah blah.

Comments

[denny]

I'm a bit worried that the first obvious association is the word 'criminal' :)

[sophie]

...I kind of figured that was the point, to have that association. Guess I was wrong, heh.

[denny]

Well, that's why I liked the sound of it and bought it, yes. I'm not sure it's a great association for a business though. Originally I just bought the domain because I'm semi-addicted to buying new domain names :)

[pooloftrees.livejournal.com]

Yes, I must admit that association did jump out at me...

[alixandrea]

It has strong associations with fens and mysterious watery landscapes for me, as the guy who wrote 'Seahenge: A Quest for Life and Death in Bronze Age Britain' uses it a lot to describe the reason there have been so many Bronze Age ritual finds in the east of England. It's a really good word and I like it a lot, but I don't know enough about web dev to really say if it's a word I'd associate with that industry. I probably wouldn't TBH...

[pooloftrees.livejournal.com]

Generally in web development you either get boring names like "Classic Web Development Ltd", or the really far out ones like "Callidetic" (which actually belongs to someone I know)...

[azurelunatic]

I was 95% sure I knew what it meant, but had to look up again to confirm.

It associates with magic to me.

[ohuiginn.net]

my instant association was liminal --> threshold --> edge --> coders on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Depending on clientele, this may not be ideal;)

Also, it turns out my feeling of what liminal means doesn't actually match what's in the dictionary.

[khalinche]

I think my answer is really, 'Yes, but, you know, I am an anthropologist *shrug*'. Second thought is, 'But what are you betwixt and between?'

[denny]

Idea and implementation, of course :)

[pooloftrees.livejournal.com]

My only concern on the spelling is that someone might misspell it as "liminulminds.com", but to be honest, it doesn't look right so I'd hope they'd try your actual domain next...

[jezzifishie.livejournal.com]

This may just be because I'm weird, but the word liminal has bad associations for me. (It drags up third year anthropology of religion). I must admit that I'm pretty rusty here, but didn't Mary Douglas argue that people who are in the liminal stage are dangerous? Something like you can't classify them, they are inbetween two stages of their life, so your brain flags them up as a danger?

Also from a purely selfish point of view, I can't say it. As a name, it's not very friendly for people with speech problems ;)

[wildeabandon]

Hrm. Part of me thinks it sounds cool and my first assumption of what you're inbetween is the past and the future, leading the way, as it were. On the other hand, part of me thinks it sounds a bit pretentious and wanky.

[reddragdiva]

Too clever-clever, won't survive being shouted in a pub to a drunk who is useful when sober, too hard to scribble accurately with hope of fidelity, most people won't know wtf it means. Bad all round.

[reddragdiva]

For business, not personal, I mean. Heck, for business name it after yourself, "De La Haye" sounds cool even if it's not instantly spellable by morons.

[denny]

Unfortunately I registered delahaye.co.uk for my dad's business a number of years ago :)

[pauamma]

I would probably have to try liminalminds and liminal-minds (in some order) before figuring out which is right. (BEaring in mind that if you register one, some domain name squatter will eventually register the other).