# Avatars/User Names Explained **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829 "2019-11-22T18:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/41 "2019-11-23T02:47:35Z")
Just a note – this finally inspired me to totally waste an evening tracking down my old avatar and making it Dope acceptable. If it wasn’t for you meddling kids … ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/42 "2019-11-23T04:16:34Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Just a note – this finally inspired me to totally waste an evening tracking down my old avatar and making it Dope acceptable. If it wasn’t for you meddling kids … Cool. But, what is it? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/43 "2019-11-23T05:26:42Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Cool. But, what is it? Howard the Duck, of course. What else would a faux Amish actual Siberian Lutheran use? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/44 "2019-11-23T05:40:35Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Howard the Duck, of course. What else would a faux Amish actual Siberian Lutheran use? 😃 Of course, said the Filipino-Russian-Lutheran-raised-as-a-Roman-Catholic in reply. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/45 "2019-11-23T06:58:35Z")
My username is short for The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man, from the song “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis. That’s Peter Gabriel in my avatar, performing that section of the song, wearing his crown of thorns. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/46 "2019-11-23T07:11:27Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > My username is based on my real name, S. N. Faulkner. I don’t have an avatar, because I don’t believe in them–just like I don’t believe in Santa Claus. > > Tripler > I do believe I can exaggerate some stories for comic effect. _all together now_ Here we go again! _laugh track_ _roll credits_ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/47 "2019-11-23T08:30:56Z")
^^Well who’s the real snfaulkner, and do you turn a blind eye to someone who tries to cheat in the ‘thingymadoo’ thread?. (:)) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/48 "2019-11-23T09:07:31Z")
The story of my username is long and complicated, but the most important part is I like cats. (Nyah.) The fact that Kamino Neko (神野猫) is a perfectly valid Japanese name (more often read Shinno, however) is a bonus. It has nothing to do with Star Wars (I adopted the name around the same time Attack of the Clones came out, and WAY before I ever saw it. I was confused and then a tad annoyed when people first started referencing clones in regards to me.) My avatar is Tedd Verres from the webcomic El Goonish Shive, in her catgirl form. Tedd’s hair and eyes are purple (my favourite colour), she’s genderfluid (like me), and…catgirl (see above). So she’s, like, the perfect ava for me. \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/49 "2019-11-23T09:08:42Z")
brachyrhynchos is the species name for American Crow. Avatar is one I caught. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/50 "2019-11-23T09:10:16Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’m using it over here partly for that reason, partly as a remembrance of the old snopes board community, and partly, to be honest, because doing so saved me the trouble of deciding on and finding something else. As another former snopester, I like seeing the pairing of a familiar user name with the avatar. My user name? My husband, a electrical engineer, and I were trying to come up with user names. His I don’t remember, but mine ended up being the feminine version of a capacitor with the feminine definite article in German. After that I discovered there’s some webcomic with the character, but I think my user name came first. Avatar is of the McCaig’s Tower above Oban. I took the original picture, and I think it was even taken with black and white film that could be processed using the color process. I started using the picture as my avatar some time after I signed up to snopes. I only use this user name and avatar here, but I use a shortened version (without the Die) on another board. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/51 "2019-11-23T09:13:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Mine is self explanatory. I think. > My avatar is me in profile Andy Warhol’d. > My username is what my Daddy called me when he was being silly. You’ve mentioned this before, and for all the many, many times I’ve tried, I cannot see a profile picture of anything possibly humanoid in that avatar. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/52 "2019-11-23T14:50:56Z")
I’m Fleetwood, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/53 "2019-11-23T15:50:40Z")
Not even worth the time it’ll take to read this… Back in the AOL days, I was Digby on another board (for no reason), but The Dope said there was already a Digby, so it got abbrev’ed. I never did see anything posted by Digby. ps: I find the word abbreviated too long, so I always shorten it… pps: in the early days of the internet, my (then little) kids thought it was hilarious that I had a “fake name”. And couldn’t believe it when a neighbor’s uncle came to visit from South Africa and he was named Digby! They made me meet him, as they giggled and whispered behind me. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/54 "2019-11-23T16:06:03Z")
My username was born 22-ish years ago in a work-related chatroom that limited names to 12 characters, so FairyChatMother was right out. My avatar is a Minion because they’re adorable and inoffensive and I didn’t want to be one of those grandmothers who uses her grandkid’s pic for everything, even tho she’s my avatar on another board… and the cover photo on my FB page. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/55 "2019-11-23T17:15:17Z")
\*\*Silenus \*\*- _A notorious consumer of wine, he was usually drunk and had to be supported by satyrs or carried by a donkey. Silenus was described as the oldest, wisest and most drunken of the followers of Dionysus, and was said in Orphic hymns to be the young god’s tutor. When intoxicated, Silenus was said to possess special knowledge and the power of prophecy…usually bald and fat…_ per Wiki My avatar is instantly recognizable, so it must remain hidden by darkness until the final confrontation between Xykon and The Order of the Stick. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/56 "2019-11-23T17:25:38Z")
“Shoeless” is a reference to Shoeless Joe Jackson. Back around the time “Field of Dreams” came out, a teammate on a company softball team used to call me Shoeless, poking fun at my lack of outfielding skills. I used a variation of “shoeless” as my first email address on Yahoo, and that’s what I went with when I signed up here. My avatar is the cover of Joe Jackson’s “Look Sharp!” album. When they first turned on avatars, I tried using a photo of Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe from the movie, but it was small and dark and hard to see what it was. So I started looking around for other photos, then thought it would be funny to use a photo of that other Joe Jackson, then found a photo of the Look Sharp album… _the one with the shoes…_ and I don’t know it all just made some weird sort of sense. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/57 "2019-11-23T18:23:06Z")
Thank you everyone! Threads like these are a nice break. I love backstories. I saw this bumper sticker shortly before joining me first forum. > **[Pirate Sticker, I Brake for Saucy Wenches, Orignal Art Decor, Nautical Pirates...](https://www.amazon.com/Sticker-Wenches-Orignal-Nautical-Pirates/dp/B07XZ9NLPG)** > > Buy Pirate Sticker, I Brake for Saucy Wenches, Orignal Art Decor, Nautical Pirates Decal - 3.5" x 11" at Amazon. Customer reviews and photos may be available to help you make the right purchase decision! ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/58 "2019-11-23T19:02:22Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Of course, said the Filipino-Russian-Lutheran-raised-as-a-Roman-Catholic in reply. Cousin Vsev – I thought that was you! 😃 Long story short – I came across that picture way back in the newsgroup days and always loved it for some reason. Of all the representations of Howard, from sketch to computer generated, that shot of him rushing you to grab you by the throat just always was mine. In Dope size its tough -------- but its mine dammit and I like it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/59 "2019-11-23T21:53:35Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > You’ve mentioned this before, and for all the many, many times I’ve tried, I cannot see a profile picture of anything possibly humanoid in that avatar. You’re assuming **Beck** is humanoid. Or her Warhol has a touch of Picasso. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829/60 "2019-11-24T00:05:00Z")
Paintcharge is the job I was doing when I first got email. (That would be the lead scenic artist for a theatre.) My avatar is my dog. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-user-names-explained/843829.md?page=4)