I was contemplating a coding task for work. It was going to involve copying a chunk of code from another project, and modifying it for the problem at hand. This is a common strategy in writing software (please, no lectures about commonalizing the code, writing libraries, etc. In this case is wasn’t an option: trust me). I figured there ought to be a catchy phrase for copying and modifying, something with either rhyme (like “walk and talk”) or alliteration (like “cash and carry” or “nature vs. nurture”).

My wife and I brainstormed for a bit, and the best was “clone and hone”. Here’s what we came up with:

• clone and hone
• pinch and paint
• grab and grind
• skim and trim
• append and amend
• sneak and tweak
• swipe and stripe
• take and shake
• lift and sift
• mooch and mash