[apothegm]

That is an incredibly unfortunate term to use for the phenomenon.

[seanhunter]

I agree, although there is a long tradition of terrible naming in the sciences.

One of the most boring and yet egregious examples imo is "Random Variable". So named because

- they aren't random and

- they aren't variables.[1]

A "random variable" is actually a measurable deterministic function from the set of possible outcomes of some experiment to the real numbers. But you can see why the name "random variable" is confusing to people.

[1] https://cyril9227.github.io/random-variables/ and elsewhere.

[IsTom]

> A "random variable" is actually a measurable deterministic function from the set of possible outcomes of some experiment to the real numbers.

I don't think that this was the formalization that was used when the term was coined, given how late set and measure theory were formalized.

[ikrenji]

"your child has cancer because of a mutation in his sonic hedgehog gene"