Websites use cookies. It’s a nice name for something that can be really nasty. It’s also a good idea to use some kitchen metaphors in a world full of office metaphors.

But using the word “cookies” in the web context leads to some strange stuff like:

Do you want to clear your session cookies?

or even:

Accepting cookies can endanger your privacy

Today is the opportunity to change the cookies name. We just have to figure out the best way to name them.

If our primary concern is to keep a sound relation to the current word, I propose

Cuckoo

or

Kickin

We would understand better why “accepting cuckoos can endanger your privacy” and “beware of session kickins”.

If our primary concern is to keep the kitchen metaphor, then I propose:

Soufflé

or

Cheese nan

It doesn’t make more sense than cookies as far as web browsers are concerned, but at least it emphasizes the fact that cookies are hot, hard to bake and delicate (for the first word) or exotic, indispensable and round (for the second one).

But being a revolutionary is all about pushing the limits - at least that’s what Guy Kawasaki says. So while we are at it, why not allow ourselves to rename cookies without any constraint related to the current name?

That’s a great idea. And it leads to great names, too. Judge for yourself:

morning-after pill (because when you look for it, it is often too late)

smut (because of all the dirt that’s into)

disclosure (so that you don’t forget about it)

eskimo (because it is very resistant)

janitor (because it remembers you)

Now, what’s your suggestions about the best new name for web cookies, in an ideal world?