'ambiguous name' error message has weird wording

[camelid]

mod serde {}

use serde::foo;

(Playground)

Errors:

   Compiling playground v0.0.1 (/playground)
error[E0432]: unresolved import `serde::foo`
 --> src/lib.rs:3:5
  |
3 | use serde::foo;
  |     ^^^^^^^^^^ no `foo` in `serde`

error[E0659]: `serde` is ambiguous (name vs any other name during import resolution)
 --> src/lib.rs:3:5
  |
3 | use serde::foo;
  |     ^^^^^ ambiguous name
  |
  = note: `serde` could refer to a crate passed with `--extern`
  = help: use `::serde` to refer to this crate unambiguously
note: `serde` could also refer to the module defined here
 --> src/lib.rs:1:1
  |
1 | mod serde {}
  | ^^^^^^^^^^^^
  = help: use `crate::serde` to refer to this module unambiguously

error: aborting due to 2 previous errors

Some errors have detailed explanations: E0432, E0659.
For more information about an error, try `rustc --explain E0432`.
error: could not compile `playground`

To learn more, run the command again with --verbose.

The error message says:

serde is ambiguous (name vs any other name during import resolution)

But what does it mean by "name vs any other name during import resolution"? I think this should be reworded or even deleted – it doesn't seem to add anything.

[petrochenkov]

But what does it mean by "name vs any other name during import resolution"?

The key part here is "during import resolution", any shadowing during resolution of use items is prohibited.
I'd personally just remove this restriction - #56414.

[goodwjak]

Just wanted to note this is still a issue in Rust version 1.56.0-nightly for now I'm using
#[macro_use] extern crate serde;

[pierwill]

@rustbot claim