A
transitional name for the
C with Classes language before it was known as
C++. The name was eventually abandoned because it was considered
ugly and
crude, and because it was predicted the next
standardization of C would occur in 1985. Because it was somewhat traditional to name a standard language the name of the language plus the year of standardization, this would mean C would become
C85. As
C84 was supposed to be a
superset of C, it would have been embaressing for it to have an earlier year in its name.
I think we're all glad they chose C++ in the end.