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(This question toes the line between belonging here and belonging on the Retrocomputing Stack Exchange.)

Here is the quote; sometimes the first sentence is omitted:

The most important thing in a programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name, and now I am looking for a suitable language.

It is always attributed to Donald Knuth. Some instances date it to 1967.

What is the original source? I can't find it anywhere. The earliest reference I can find online is in a manifest for a programming languages course from 2000. Even if the ultimate source is not a published document, but rather a statement in a conversation or in some other form that was not recorded, we should expect earlier references, especially if the quote really is from 1967.

texdr.aft
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    I can commiserate: I love the "R" stats language, but that's a horrible name when it comes to 'net searches, disk searches, etc. – Carl Witthoft Jun 03 '21 at 12:40
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    On Wikiquote, this has been relegated to "talk" and marked "unsourced" in 2009. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Donald_Knuth – Gerald Edgar Jun 03 '21 at 14:39
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    @CarlWitthoft It's shocking how many languages have a 1-letter name, give or take punctuation searching software may also struggle with. – J.G. Jun 03 '21 at 17:06
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    Here it is claimed that the quote is from a talk at UCLA: https://www.quora.com/What-does-Donald-Knuth-mean-when-he-says-The-most-important-thing-in-the-programming-language-is-the-name-A-language-will-not-succeed-without-a-good-name-I-have-recently-invented-a-very-good-name-and-now-I-am?share=1 – Hermann Gruber Jun 07 '21 at 22:06
  • @HermannGruber If that is true, then I wonder where 1967 came from. – texdr.aft Jun 07 '21 at 23:44
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    Chapter 11 of Knuth's Selected Papers on Computer Languages, which is an unfinished report from 1966, contains the statement "Finally, and perhaps most important of all, a good language should have an appropriate name that aptly characterizes its personality and mystique." – texdr.aft Jun 12 '21 at 16:13
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    @texdr.aft good point. Well, possibly Knuth said it at the abovementioned UCLA talk, but not for the first time. – Hermann Gruber Jun 13 '21 at 05:22

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