I actually like "bobber" a lot. Three reasons:

1. It's an intuitive name, which improves accessibility to the sport. Ask a newbie to pull a "strike indicator" out of your tackle box, and he may get it right, but if you say "bobber," his mind is likely to turn toward a device that "bobs" or "floats." The bubbly, floaty thingy is more likely to be (correctly) selected.
2. Bobbers, lest we forget, spend a LOT more time bobbing than indicating strikes.
3. Sometimes (not a majority of the time, but sometimes), I enjoy watching bobbers do what they do. I've accepted my darkness, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I occasionally use a bobber.

All that said, "strike indicator" is much more optimistic. Maybe I should use that term more.

Back on topic: "Pole." Or, worse still, "Two-Pole Endorsement." I don't hate "poles" themselves (they can't help what we choose to call them); just the name. "Two-rod" sounds pretty stupid, too, now that I think about it. Wonder why I don't object to that as much...