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What are funny names of mathematical objects?

For example Mouse (set theory)

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    $\begingroup$ you can find many at math.stackexchange.com/q/1102872/87355 $\endgroup$
    – Carlo Beenakker
    Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 11:28
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    $\begingroup$ Perverse sheaves, of course. $\endgroup$
    – M.G.
    Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 12:18
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    $\begingroup$ Dessins d'Enfants. They don't look like children drawings but they might look like what a mathematician thinks what the drawings of children look like! $\endgroup$
    – Mozibur Ullah
    Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 12:50
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    $\begingroup$ I always found it funny that some of the most studied objects in modern mathematics are the "simple complex Lie groups" $\endgroup$
    – Sam Hopkins
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 21:07
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    $\begingroup$ I voted to close for the following reasons. (a) First of all there seems to be the exact same question on MSE. (b) I also observe that the answers below are just lists of expressions; people don't quite take the time to explain what it is about, what is funny about it, or just even provide a url; these answers are not very informative. $\endgroup$
    – DamienC
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 21:52

5 Answers 5

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"Pure motives" [and thus also "mixed motives", as Will Sawin comments]

(there's also "Killing fields", but if that's funny then it's gallows humor)

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    $\begingroup$ Surely "Mixed motives" too. $\endgroup$
    – Will Sawin
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 20:56
  • $\begingroup$ I thought I was missing something! Edited, thanks. $\endgroup$
    – Noam D. Elkies
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 21:01
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Sexy Primes!

(and this is to reach 30 characters)

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    $\begingroup$ Hello @hbjj, welcome on MO :-). In general it is better to avoid very short answers that are not very informative. You could explain in your answer what these numbers are. The least to do (which I did by editing your answer) is to provide a link to a webpage where an explanation/definition is given. $\endgroup$
    – DamienC
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 21:47
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  1. "Normal family".

  2. "Shared values" (a popular research area in the theory of meromorphic functions. Many theorems in this area say that "a family (of functions) is normal if its members share enough values").

  3. "G-oper" (this was introduced by a Russian speaker, and both "oper" and "G-oper" sound very funny to a Russian speaker).

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    $\begingroup$ left / right ideals $\endgroup$
    – erz
    Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 18:36
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    $\begingroup$ Could you elaborate on what makes them funny for a Russian speaker? $\endgroup$
    – Federico Poloni
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 21:08
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    $\begingroup$ @Federico Poloni: "oper" is a slang word for "cop". "G-oper" as it is pronounced in Russian is associated with "жопа", which means "ass", "arse". So if you want to call a cop "asshole", you can use this word and everyone would understand what you mean. $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre Eremenko
    Commented Apr 8, 2021 at 0:51
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    $\begingroup$ @M.G. Thanks. You may remove it now if you find in inappropriate. When V. Drinfeld introced this term he did not know American slang; he was working in Kharkiv at that time, and had never traveled abroad before. $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre Eremenko
    Commented Apr 8, 2021 at 15:19
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    $\begingroup$ @M. G. The "g" in "goper" (slang) is probably pronounced in English like the first letter in "golf", while in the matematical term G-oper it is pronounced as "G" in "George" which is consistent with Russian pronounciation:-) $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre Eremenko
    Commented Apr 8, 2021 at 15:33
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"Derogatory matrix" ... the minimal polynomial is a proper divisor of the characteristic polynomial

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  1. Perverse sheaves: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_sheaf
  2. Blowing up points on a plane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowing_up
  3. Balls?... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_(mathematics)#In_topological_spaces
  4. Hairy ball theorem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_ball_theorem
  5. Tropical geometry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_geometry
  6. Radicals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_of_an_ideal
  7. Cardinals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_number
  8. Sheets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covering_space#Formal_definition or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann_surface
  9. Twin primes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_prime
  10. Necklace splitting theorem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necklace_splitting_problem
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    $\begingroup$ 9a. Sexy primes <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexy_prime> [now I see hbjj mentioned this 20 minutes ago] $\endgroup$
    – Noam D. Elkies
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 21:46
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    $\begingroup$ @NoamD.Elkies: sadly, the choice of terminology excludes the somewhat kinky possibility of sexy twin primes. $\endgroup$
    – M.G.
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 21:51

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