What ever happened to the effort [1] to rename Coq in order to make it less offensive? There were a number of excellent proposals [2] that seemed to die on the vine.
What kind of person is offended at this? It's not even in the ballpark of making the allusion (let alone whether someone should be offended at such an allusion). I refuse to believe there are people this petty.
From what I remember of the discussions on the topic, it's not so much that people are offended by it per se, but there has been many reports of uncomfortable situations from women who use and specifically teach Coq.
Let's be honest, I totally buy that there have been hallway discussions between students about the "Coq teacher" that were wholly inappropriate and should not be encouraged.
Cock also means rooster in English, so really one might say it's perfect in both English and French.
Interestingly, coq is from Latin coccus (rooster) and cock is from Germanic kukkaz (rooster). I don't think there are many words that exist in both French and English with nearly identical pronunciation, the same meaning but unrelated roots!
In French, the way the word "bit" is pronounced sounds the exact same as the French word for cock (not the rooster).
I can assure you that French CS programming students get over it quickly.
There's noone really asking for it to be renamed because it's understood that it's a commonly used foreign word.
I'm not sure why an English professional scientist or programmer would be unable to take the same stance for a programming language invented in another country.
you're assuming that everyone lives in the same shoes as you do - i curse in a professional context very regularly (fuck, shit, etc). i have given technical presentations (that are recorded and made public - youtube) at decently sized venues in the same tone.
What's offensive about a bodypart? Especially if you have one, finding it offensive is rather weird. I, personally, find that whoever came up with the name must have been hilariously innocent, or at least not speaking english. :D
Coq being the first three letters of his name, and also the french name for rooster, the french national emblem.
So yeah, he probably didn't care at all what those letters meant in various languages ( and probably even found the reaction of english natives amusing).
Rocq was my clear favorite, though I would have picked Roc. It's a real shame that effort seems to have stalled. This is a real barrier yet not widely acknowledged as such.