>The obvious way out is to refactor by renaming those variables, but 'unsafe_filename_as_given_by_user' or 'list_of_files_as_given' doesn't quite roll off the k

>The obvious way out is to refactor by renaming those variables, but 'unsafe_filename_as_given_by_user' or 'list_of_files_as_given' doesn't quite roll off the keyboard. That's absolutely the way to do it. "unsafe_filename_as_given_by_user" is clear, precise and a much better name than just "filename" when used in a large scope. It's a stepping stone to better code. The length and unwieldy nature of the specifically named variable is a code smell, but it's a code smell indicating a different problem this time - the problem is that the variable's scope and/or context is too large. When I set out to refactor a large code base I almost always increase the variable name length to begin with to prevent name conflation, ending up with the 'unsafe_filename_as_given_by_user' kind of name and then bring it down again later when short variable names in a short scope are precise enough.