[wtbob]

> Can you expand on that? I'm not sure quite what you mean.

Sure! It derives from the SDSI/SPKI work of the late 90s, which demonstrated how one can use petnames (i.e., local nicknames) for people, and then refer to a contact's petnames via one's petname for that contact.

So you might refer to a name (mom dad June).

[midgetjones]

Makes total sense now, thanks!

Did you fudge the last example though? My mum's dad is not called June. Or am I misunderstanding?

[wtbob]

Nope, not fudged: the names are hierarchical. So (name mom) is mom in your namespace, (name mom dad) is dad in your mom's namespace, and (name mom dad June) is June in your mom's dad's namespace.