Tricks and traps in astronomical nomenclature

This article supplements {The first dictionary of the nomenclature of celestial objects} by Fernandez et al. (1983) by citing specific examples of some of the confusions and ambiguities which pervade the existing designations of astronomical objects. The examples are grouped under the following topics: constellation names, numbering schemes, use of letters in acronyms or in specifiers, abbreviations of author's names, abbreviations of abbreviations and other imaginative creations, misleading titles, troubles of transliteration, the use and disuse of separators and the subtleties of subdivisions.