In fact, most of the naming in Urbit is deliberately meaningless and bizarre in order to prevent the project from congealing too soon. The intention is to keep things provisional and annoying enough that future programmers won't forget to revise past temporary decisions.
I've learned a bit more about it from these comments and I don't think it's snake oil, but it is 100% not what I was expecting from the language used in the copy.
So yeah, seems like a good project that foregoes familiarity in order to create something cool albeit niche. But anyone who isn't on board with the vague descriptions will definitely feel mislead.