Boxing Perspective: What Did They Say His Name Was?

[brucelee]

For the information of everybody here:

From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594: "...a rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."

It means that what matters is what something is, not what it is called. Maybe it will be clearer in context, if you can get through the flowery (no pun intended) language--

JULIET:
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Of course, this observation does not take into account how preconceived ideas can alter someone's perception of reality. A rose, if called Festering Monkey Pus, would objectively smell as sweet. However, the person taking a whiff is expecting something nasty, and would be inclined to think, "Well, it's not as bad as I was expecting, but I don't know if I really like it."