If hackernews was called "bored programmer" I would be reminded I was bored every time I visited. From a marketing standpoint, sounding cool and compelling is a thousand times more important than being literal and accurate.

My first reactions to: "Hacker News" = "Whoa, hackers! This is what hackers read!" "Bored hacker" = "What kind of hacker is bored? I want to go where the cool up-to-date hackers are." "Bored programmer" = "Man, fuck those guys."