87 replies to this topic

[Godot]

I cannot think of a single forum I've visited that there hasn't been a thread devoted to people explaining their usernames or their rationale for so choosing. So it's about time we had one here at TGL.


I'll start it off:

Seven or eight years ago I was in a bar with some friends and we were playing this tv trivia game. In order for the points to "count", I had to register an account. I figured I would just pull a name out of the air at random that wouldn't be used and would certainly have a few of the regulars at the bar wonder where it came from. Thus, "Godot".

A few years later, when I fell into the online world of message boards, it just seemed a natural choice to continue with. Lucky for me, I haven't run into anyone using the same name elsewhere.

So, how about you?

[The Heretic]

I chose Campanella after discovering he was the heretic's heretic, and my username on my boards is The Heretic. Since the historical Tommasso Campanella was a friend of Galileo, I thought this handle would suit this forum best.

Edited to add: here is a summary of why i labeled the original article a heretic.

[Rusty Shackleford]

There's an animated show called King of Hill. One of the character's names is Dale Gribble. He's an bug exterminator. He is also extremely paranoid about things like government conspiracies, Y2k, etc. Whenever he has to give out personal information he uses the name "Rusty Shackleford" so that nobody can put his real name in some large government database.

[Scotty]

Of course the obvious, Scotty from the original Star Trek, as I found him the most endearing character and I always thought he saved the day or was the foundation behind why they got out of the situation (no matter how silly ).

I like to think of myself that way, the engineer in the background, making sure everything works and everybody can get their job done because I do my job.

As a note, I always use avatars that are the cartoon version of the "real" show. As I am not an engineer, I only play one on-line

-Scott

[Barefoot Bree]

Bree is my real first name, and I dislike wearing shoes, and usually don't.

Plus, I thought the name conjured up a slightly mother-earth flower-child image, full of folksy wisdom, that I thought I could borrow once in a while.

I always say that had I only been born just 5 years earlier, I would have made a dynamite hippy. As it is, I just missed the movement.

BTW, if any of you are veterans of Internet Infidels or a couple of related forums, the user named just "Bree" and I are TWO SEPARATE PEOPLE. I didn't even know she existed until months after I had signed up - I never even tried my bare name.

[Godot]

Barefoot Bree said:

As it is, I just missed the movement.

Have you considered psyllium?

[ref]

I just typed in 'ref' once.

I honestly have no idea why.

[Hugo Holbling]

Hugo Holbling is an important character discussed but never seen in Kieślowski's Rouge. I'm fascinated by the issues the great Pole explored in his films (much the same as those Dostoevsky wrestled with), hence the name.

[mosaic]

A few years ago, a guy at another board made a comment( I cannot remember) about America being more like a mosaic than a melting pot and I figured the analogy was nice and adopted the moniker at other sites. The context of discussion just happened to reflect what I thought I should try and be.

[Scotty]

Remember this Bree?





-Scott

[Barefoot Bree]

I was really hoping that had died.....

[Big Blooming Blighter]

What is it, some kind of leader?

[davidm]

Nothing ever dies on the Internet, Bree. It's just temporarily offline.

[Scotty]

Barefoot Bree said:

I was really hoping that had died.....

Aww, and I spend so much time making it...





-Scott

[Parody of Language]

This is the first time I've tried this username, which is really the only username that I've put any thought into. On other forums I'm known as select because I couldn't think of a good username. But Parody of Language is a short expression of my philosophy of language, as well as other things, signalling the fact that even when I write about the most serious matters there is still a little tickle in the ribs for having to express myself just this way, through language. The way I see it, language falsifies everything: it's a miracle that we are able to communicate at all.

[Diogenes]

Sometimes I feel like Diogenes of Sinope, seeking one honest man (or woman) [to be friends with].

[lamp.of.diogenes]

Woah. What a coincidence!

I came up with this name when I was depressed and also reading too much Heidegger about how most of our relations with others is characterized by inauthenticity. So my lamp is also searching for authenticity, which includes the sense of honesty, individuality, and responsibility.

[Diogenes]

Hello, my long lost lamp. Without you I have been lost in the dark.

Unfortunately I have only an extremely cursory knowledge of philosophy and philosophers. And rather than a true Cynic like my namesake, I'm more aligned with Stoicism.

[Big Blooming Blighter]

TheBeast is a childhood nickname.

Also I'm built like a beast in every way 8)

And I'm smat, like that dude wot wus on X Mon.

[Diogenes]

TheBeast said:

TheBeast is a childhood nickname.

I was known as The Beastmaster 15-20 years ago. But my physique more closely resembled a large hairy beast than Marc Singer.

[Angakuk]

I am a Lutheran minister. The first parish I was called to serve was in an Inupiat community in Northwestern Alaska. A pastor or priest is type of shaman. The Inupiaq word for shaman is Angakuk. The first time I used the name was to register on a board with some strong Anthropological interests and describing myself as a shaman seemed to fit the context. I just recently was informed that a very similar word, angakok, in the Greenland Inuit language means 'white man'. I am one of those as well. I guess the name just feels like it fits. I like the concept, I like the look of the word and I like the sound of the word and I have not yet bumped into anyone else using it.

[Decon Pake]

Okay. I have no idea how I came up with mine.

I was just fooling around. Muahaha!

8)