参考：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6926551/android-usage-of-the-flinger-term
I asked the same question on the Android platform mailing list and got the follow reply:
By the definition in the dictionary, a flinger is someone that flings. In the case of the SurfaceFlinger, it's flinging visual data to the surface and AudioFlinger is flinging audio data to the appropriate recipient. They're just "cute" words..:)
Looking up to fling gives the following result (among others):
- to throw, cast, or hurl with force or violence: to fling a stone.
So I guess the original term flinger in Surface Flinger is inspired by the waving action performed by the finger/hand when navigating a touch-screen. And then possibly just used because it was a cute word also for Audio Flinger. But that is just my speculation.