# phpman > perldoc > UNIVERSAL::moniker

## NAME
    [UNIVERSAL::moniker](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/UNIVERSAL%3A%3Amoniker/markdown) - Nicer names for your Perl modules/classes

## SYNOPSIS
      use [UNIVERSAL::moniker](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/UNIVERSAL%3A%3Amoniker/markdown);

## DESCRIPTION
    Class names in Perl often don't sound great when spoken, or look good when written in prose. For
    this reason, we tend to say things like "customer" or "basket" when we are referring to
    "[My::Site::User::Customer](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/My%3A%3ASite%3A%3AUser%3A%3ACustomer/markdown)" or "[My::Site::Shop::Basket](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/My%3A%3ASite%3A%3AShop%3A%3ABasket/markdown)". We thought it would be nice if our
    classes knew what we would prefer to call them.

    This module will add a "moniker" (and "plural_moniker") method to "UNIVERSAL", and so to every
    class or module.

  moniker
      $ob->moniker;

    Returns the moniker for $ob. So, if $ob->isa("[Big::Scary::Animal](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Big%3A%3AScary%3A%3AAnimal/markdown)"), "moniker" will return
    "animal".

  plural_moniker
      $ob->plural_moniker;

    Returns the plural moniker for $ob. So, if $ob->isa("[Cephalopod::Octopus](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Cephalopod%3A%3AOctopus/markdown)"), "plural_moniker"
    will return "octopuses".

    (You need to install [Lingua::EN::Inflect](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Lingua%3A%3AEN%3A%3AInflect/markdown) for this to work.)

## AUTHORS
    Marty Pauley <marty+<perl@kasei.com>>, Tony Bowden <<tony@kasei.com>>, Elizabeth Mattijsen
    <<liz@dijkmat.nl>>

    (Yes, 3 authors for such a small module!)

## COPYRIGHT
      Copyright (C) 2004 Kasei

      This program is free software; you can redistribute it under the same terms as
      Perl.

      This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
      ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
      FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.