# Appropriate user name, tho **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 16, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277 "2014-04-16T17:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/21 "2014-04-16T17:59:37Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Halfwit is an insult. To the best of my knowledge, DrDeth isn’t. I’m open to correction or to the creativity of Dopers surprising me, which was happened before. Then you need to Warn him about calling himself that. What you seem to be saying is that if a poster picks a self-insulting name, he gets special treatment and protection. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/22 "2014-04-16T18:01:06Z")
You weren’t modded just for mentioning his name, you were modded for using his name as an insult. You wouldn’t get modded if you said something like “ **Half Man Half Wit** is wrong here” but you basically called him a half wit. Granted he threw that ball across the plate by picking a self deprecatory user name, but you shouldn’t have swung at it. Calling someone a half wit is an insult, which is against the rules. Also, I’m trying to see how anyone could make a similar insult out of **DrDeth**. Could you give an example? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/23 "2014-04-16T18:03:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You seem to infer here that somehow Jonathan could read my mind, and somehow knew it was an insult, thus I meant it as a insult. I did not, nor did he take it as one. Only Chance seems to have thought so. We don’t have to read your mind. It doesn’t necessarily matter what your intent was. You can’t assume that everyone else will know you were joking. Read the rule again: > [@](#): > > This rule applies to all insults,\*\* including jokes \*\*and quotes from books & movies, **as others may not get the joke.** > [@DrDeth](#): > > So, what you’re saying is that “Appropriate user name” applied to **DrDeth** can not be a insult, but when the user picks **" Half Man Half Wit"** it becomes an insult? :dubious: Please provide a link to someone saying “appropriate user name” to you where it was intended as an insult. > [@jimbuff314](#): > > Interesting. Could a person’s choice of username, _alone_, be trollish behavior? I’d think if it was too egregious, the name wouldn’t be allowed. Yes. We reject usernames we regard as inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/24 "2014-04-16T18:04:32Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Then you need to Warn him about calling himself that. What you seem to be saying is that if a poster picks a self-insulting name, he gets special treatment and protection. I’m saying the opposite: even if a poster makes a joke about himself with his username or picks a username that could be taken as an insult, you don’t get a free pass to call him a name every time you disagree with him. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/25 "2014-04-16T18:05:14Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > You weren’t modded just for mentioning his name, you were modded for using his name as an insult. You wouldn’t get modded if you said something like “ **Half Man Half Wit** is wrong here” but you basically called him a half wit. Granted he threw that ball across the plate by picking a self deprecatory user name, but you shouldn’t have swung at it. Calling someone a half wit is an insult, which is against the rules. > > Also, I’m trying to see how anyone could make a similar insult out of **DrDeth**. Could you give an example? 1. I didn’t use his name as an insult. I used it as a joke. 2. I didn’t call him a half wit. 3. Ah, so if I say “_poisoned anyone recently, Borgia_?” then is it a joke or a insult? In order to be an insult one has to mean it as one, and the other person has to take offense, neither of which occurred here. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/26 "2014-04-16T18:05:52Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > We occasionally get new users signing up with names that are clearly intended to troll. We give them the choice of picking a new name that is not intended to troll or to have their posting privileges suspended. My favorite was the ‘fuckthemods’ registrant from several years ago (God, maybe ten years ago). DrDeth, you need to learn to let it go. You got dinged, you took a lump. You should have known better. The fact that you’re bringing it up again now - after a few weeks of various messages asking me to change it…and including other posters - is silly. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/27 "2014-04-16T18:09:04Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > So if we want to call him out on something he said, we have to use his whole name? We can’t just say “Hey, Half Wit, what did you mean…”? Or are we not allowed to use his name at all? Since it would be more reasonable to select **Half Man** , the first half of his name, or abbreviate it as HMHW, I would assume that if you focused on the **Half Wit** part you intended it as an insult, especially if you were “calling him out.” People regularly abbreviate **Really Not All That Bright’s** name as RNATB. It shouldn’t be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/28 "2014-04-16T18:09:23Z")
A joke can still be an insult. If someone jokingly commented to me “your user name is quite appropriate considering your apparent brain capacity,” it is an insult. Many jokes are funny **because** they are insults, but they are still insults. But it’s also possible to reference my user name in a non-insulting manner. I was in a debate once with poster **Troutsqueezer** , and a few other posters riffed off that. Also a joke, but not insulting. I don’t know if a warning was justified for you, but you certainly did insult the poster, and claiming it was only a joke isn’t a defense. And comparing it to other people referencing your user name is unrelated unless their usage was insulting in some way. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/29 "2014-04-16T18:09:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 1. I didn’t call him a half wit. What are you saying your post meant, then? The bottom line is that you can’t call a poster a halfwit in GD. There are no exceptions. It doesn’t matter if his username happens to have the word halfwit in it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/30 "2014-04-16T18:11:15Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 1. I didn’t use his name as an insult. I used it as a joke. But it was an insult. > [@](#): > > 1. I didn’t call him a half wit. Yes you did. > [@](#): > > 1. Ah, so if I say “_poisoned anyone recently, Borgia_?” then is it a joke or a insult? In order to be an insult one has to mean it as one, and the other person has to take offense, neither of which occurred here. Depends on the context. If you said that in the midst of a heated debate in GD, then maybe it would be insulting. You still haven’t provided an instance of your name being used in an insulting fashion. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/31 "2014-04-16T18:18:00Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > DrDeth, you need to learn to let it go. You got dinged, you took a lump. You should have known better. The fact that you’re bringing it up again now - after a few weeks of various messages asking me to change it…and including other posters - is silly. It remains forever. You guys never drop a warning. Every fucking time I come to this MB it’s right there in front of me. No other MB I know of keeps Warnings forever and ever and ever. And, here’s what’s worse. Ten years from now, if I say something weird again, it’s be “Well, you were warned for this before!”. The fact I posted here for 13 years before getting a Warning and might post for another 13 would be beside the point. TWO WARNINGS!!! This is why so many old time posters are gone. So, yeah, I’d be willing to let it go- if you guys would be willing to let it go- ever. But you’re not. \*You \*will cherish and hug and keep that “ding” for decades. _You_ will bring it up later- in fact you will never, \*ever \*forget it. I even asked you guys to just do it for the sake of Customer Service. But the idea of Customer Service seems to be at odds here. So, no problem, Jonathan- I will drop it- _when you guys do_. Deal? You guys make the warnings go away after a year or even two, and sure- it’s a “ding” and I can forget it. But this isn’t a “ding”. It’s not a “lump”. It’s fucking\*\* forever. \*\* It wasn’t a personal insult, it wasn’t meant or taken as one. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/32 "2014-04-16T18:19:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What are you saying your post meant, then? > > The bottom line is that you can’t call a poster a halfwit in GD. There are no exceptions. It doesn’t matter if his username happens to have the word halfwit in it. A Joke? I didn’t call him a half-wit. Where did I use that word? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/33 "2014-04-16T18:20:22Z")
We have explained in _hundreds_ of threads that warnings count less and less as time goes on as long as you don’t repeat the thing you got warned for. Assuming we’re all still here and using this system in 10 years, will that warnings still be there? I guess. Will anyone use it as the basis for a banning or suspension or even give a crap? No. So please, get over it. > [@DrDeth](#): > > I didn’t call him a half-wit. Where did I use that word? You said halfwit was an appropriate username. That’s calling him a halfwit and you know it. You shouldn’t have done it, but if you don’t do it again it’s no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/34 "2014-04-16T18:23:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You seem to infer here that somehow Jonathan could read my mind, and somehow knew it was an insult, thus I meant it as a insult. I did not, nor did he take it as one. Only Chance seems to have thought so. I disagree. I think what you said is the equivalent of saying “You’re a half-wit, yuk yuk”. Adding the laughs or assuming that people will think it’s ok because _it’s funny_ doesn’t make it less of an insult. A person (such as that other poster) should be able to indulge a little self-deprecating humor without having it be turned into a personal attack\* by someone else in Great Debates. \*Yes, personal attack. You asked for opinions, there is mine. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/35 "2014-04-16T18:23:28Z")
Are you even listening to yourself DrDeth? Can you see how extreme you appear to be? Hell, I got a warning a couple of years ago and I corresponded with the moderator who dinged me to acknowledge it and move on. It’s not the end of the world. It should be a teachable moment if you’ll let it be so. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/36 "2014-04-16T18:26:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > \*You \*will cherish and hug and keep that “ding” for decades. …and call it George. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/37 "2014-04-16T18:26:40Z")
I got my first recently. I consider it a brown badge of courage! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/38 "2014-04-16T18:43:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So, yeah, I’d be willing to let it go- if you guys would be willing to let it go- ever. But you’re not. \*You \*will cherish and hug and keep that “ding” for decades. _You_ will bring it up later- in fact you will never, \*ever \*forget it. Y’know, most of us on the moderation staff, as well as most of the posters reading this thread, wouldn’t have been aware of the warning if you hadn’t brought it up. I glance through the warnings files every once in a while, but I don’t keep track of if someone gets a single warning. I didn’t know about your warning until you brought it up. Warnings only really become an issue if someone gets several within a short period of time. A single warning from years ago is essentially irrelevant. If your objective is to have the warning be forgotten about, you’re going about it in exactly the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/39 "2014-04-16T19:08:51Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > …and call it George. Very good. But be careful now, that’s actually funny. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277/40 "2014-04-16T19:17:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Y’know, most of us on the moderation staff, as well as most of the posters reading this thread, wouldn’t have been aware of the warning if you hadn’t brought it up. I glance through the warnings files every once in a while, but I don’t keep track of if someone gets a single warning. I didn’t know about your warning until you brought it up. Warnings only really become an issue if someone gets several within a short period of time. A single warning from years ago is essentially irrelevant. > > If your objective is to have the warning be forgotten about, you’re going about it in exactly the wrong way. Hmm, according to Jonathan, this was discussed “in the Mod loop” whatever that is. Anyway, my point is that in order for it to be 'an insult" you should have either it be intended or taken as a insult. In this case- neither. For a third party to say “Hey, you were insulted there, don’t worry I got your back” is a bit out of line. No insult was intended _or_ taken. _Ipso facto_, no insult occurred. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriate-user-name-tho/686277.md?page=3)