Originally Posted by Jimmie76

Ah yes, that takes me back... years ago at a different employer I was quite friendly with a load of people from director level and downwards in the firm. I was talking to someone over lunch who I think was leading the business development team and he had a folder marked Project xxxxxx at the table. I asked how long we had been interested in this other company as a potential purchase and his face blanched and he stopped chewing. He asked how I knew which company as it was top secret and was only in the preliminary stages and that he hadn't told anyone else yet it outside the team and they were all sworn to secrecy. I pointed to his folder and said that his code name for the project was my clue and explained how I had deduced his secret.

He said it was very difficult coming up with names that didn't relate to the other firm, the people involved etc. So I said when you get back to your desk get a dictionary out and let it fall open on a page and pick the first word off the page. Or just pick characters from a TV show and use those. So for the West Wing: Josh, C.J. Toby, Mrs Landingham etc. That way no one will have influenced it subconsciously and it will be far harder if not impossible to guess from the title.