I have encontered this attitude a couple of times also. Everything should be as general and generic as possible. Things should be called "meta data" instead of

I have encontered this attitude a couple of times also. Everything should be as general and generic as possible. Things should be called "meta data" instead of what enteties really are in the model. If you argument for a structured relational model, with sane names for everything, you are dismissed as some sort of dinosaur, that just doesnt get it. In my experience, these "generic" systems are the ones that eventually end up in development hell, containing an obscene LOC in proportion to the problem being solved, and are impossible for new developers to understand and modify.