it was always my understanding (and I could be waaaaaay off base here) that some of the reason behind the pairing names were because there are three "J"s in *NSYNC - which makes the traditional initial thing used in much of fandom sorta impossible. I mean, J/C - who is it?

but then the trend spread to other fandoms, Buffy, etc., which I kinda resent. it's stupid, but this was popslash's thing, and I keep thinking they stole it. ;)