# Biff **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770 "2005-04-05T02:24:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NadaHappyCamper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NadaHappyCamper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NadaHappyCamper)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/1 "2005-04-05T02:24:43Z")
What name is the nickname “Biff” a shortened version of? ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/2 "2005-04-05T03:04:28Z")
Nothing. It’s a nickname like “Champ” or “Scout”, and is independent of the given name. Based on the few baby namer sites I just checked, it was apparently based on an English slang word meaning “to hit” or “punch”. ---
**Author:** ![NadaHappyCamper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NadaHappyCamper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NadaHappyCamper)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/3 "2005-04-05T03:06:23Z")
Oh, :smack: thanks ---
**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 5, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/4 "2005-04-05T03:25:33Z")
The actual name of the only guy I know who goes by Biff is Eldredge. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/5 "2005-04-05T03:32:32Z")
\\Biff Tannen\\: What are you looking at butthead? ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/6 "2005-04-05T03:33:38Z")
**[Biff Tannen](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001855/)**: What are you looking at butthead? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/7 "2005-04-05T11:53:43Z")
Buford maybe? Brian ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/8 "2005-04-05T12:22:34Z")
Biffward? Biffmont? Biffathan? Biffmund? Ah, Biffbert! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/9 "2005-04-05T13:17:07Z")
I grew up in Preppie Central, and there _was_ a loose tradition of your nickname having the same first initial as your first name: so “Biffs” might likely have been Bills or Bobs. I was doing PR for a Japanese bank back in the '80s, and one of the VPs, Masao Kitada, told me he wanted an American nickname, like all the other Japanese businessman. I told him of the Preppie Tradition—so to this day, there is a banker in Japan named “Muffy” Kitada. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/10 "2005-04-05T13:42:44Z")
[http://www.jerseys.com.au/images/24.06\_regcap.jpg](http://www.jerseys.com.au/images/24.06_regcap.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/11 "2005-04-05T15:02:53Z")
FWIW, the “Biff” I work with is actually named William. (Which rather supports Eve’s Bill/Bob hypothesis.) ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/12 "2005-04-05T15:09:20Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > FWIW, the “Biff” I work with is actually named William. (Which rather supports Eve’s Bill/Bob hypothesis.) I know one whose real name is Burton, another point for the b-name theory. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/13 "2005-04-05T15:26:38Z")
[Biff Henderson](http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/show_info/bios/ls_show_info_bios_bhenderson.shtml): > [@](#): > > Born James Jackson Henderson Jr. in Durham, North Carolina, he acquired the nickname Biff from his mother when her friend had a dream involving a boy named Biff. ---
**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 5, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/14 "2005-04-05T16:03:21Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > [http://www.jerseys.com.au/images/24.06\_regcap.jpg](http://www.jerseys.com.au/images/24.06_regcap.jpg) I think I need one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/15 "2005-04-05T19:24:08Z")
I thought it was short for |31FF!!!11!1!!!ONEONE!!ELEVEN1! ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/16 "2005-04-05T20:02:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I thought it was short for |31FF!!!11!1!!!ONEONE!!ELEVEN1! Time to either show your age, or put away the Commador 64 ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/17 "2005-04-05T20:23:23Z")
[Biff Benedict Pocoroba](http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pocorbi01.shtml) Yep, his given name was Biff. He played catcher for the Atlanta Braves for nine seasons. Now he’s retired, and makes some of the best bratwurst you ever tasted in your life. You can get them at the [Universal Joint](http://www.ujointbar.com/menu.html) in Decatur, Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/18 "2005-04-05T21:16:30Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > FWIW, the “Biff” I work with is actually named William. (Which rather supports Eve’s Bill/Bob hypothesis.) I’m quite glad you list your location, because the one Biff I know is really named William. But he’s in San Diego. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biff/297770/19 "2005-04-05T22:22:22Z")
[biff is also the name of a common \*nix program that alerts you when you have email.](http://dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_38.html#SEC510) It was named after a dog who barked whenever the mailman came. (You’ll have to scroll a bit.)