# Bolded names in posts **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 22, 2004, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133 "2004-12-22T07:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/1 "2004-12-22T07:44:52Z")
Ok - it’s 1:46 a.m. and I just spent an hour going through threads in this forum, and I can’t find an answer to my question, so I’m starting my own thread, so I can hurry up and go to bed. About a million times throughout the forum, when someone replies to someone else without using a quote, and mentions that other person’s name, the name is **bolded**. Is this an automatic thing, or just something people do so other people can skim the thread and see if their name was mentioned? ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/2 "2004-12-22T07:55:32Z")
> [@Spongemom](#): > > something people do so other people can skim the thread and see if their name was mentioned? That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/3 "2004-12-22T08:25:28Z")
Thanks. That’s been bugging me for a while now. It’s like that everywhere, so I thought it was something the board did itself when it recognized a username. I guess this forum is more close-knit than what I thought. That’s a nice feeling, that I just had there. Kinda like one big family here. Ok, now I’m getting sappy. I need to go to bed. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/4 "2004-12-22T13:25:32Z")
'Tis the season to be sappy, Fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra." Bolding names is a tradition. You may ask, how did this tradition get started? I’ll tell you. I don’t know. I do it because everyone else do it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/5 "2004-12-22T14:32:24Z")
**Because if we did it the other way,** Spongemom, **it would be pretty freakin’ annoying, wouldn’t it?** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/6 "2004-12-22T14:59:11Z")
It isn’t just for vanity; a lot of members have user names that are just ordinary words and without bolding, can be misread as such, making the post difficult to understand; Consider: > [@nobody in particular](#): > > I dunno about you guys, but I really hate mangetout - so frickin’ wet and tasteless > [@nobody in particular](#): > > I dunno about you guys, but I really hate **Mangetout** - so frickin’ wet and tasteless In the first instance, they’re possibly talking about [these](http://www.graines.ch/gemuesesamen/db-access/blumen_detail.asp?ID=817&kategorie=345) - in the second instance, there is less ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/7 "2004-12-22T17:09:42Z")
I signed up here about an hour after \*\*C K \*\* did, and same answer - Tradition! (Where’s [Zero Mostel](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002WB3/102-3235522-8622518) when you need him?) ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/8 "2004-12-22T20:08:57Z")
Traditions are nice. I don’t really have anything to say here, just figured I should respond somehow. Thanks for answering me so fast. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/9 "2004-12-22T22:35:07Z")
I do it to show respect. Even for those who I disagree with or piss me off. If I’m discussing someone, they have a right to be alerted that they are being discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/10 "2004-12-22T23:50:00Z")
Same here. It’s even to the point now where I flinch if I realize I didn’t bold a user name when I intended to. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/11 "2004-12-22T23:59:58Z")
It’s a courtesy gesture. A salute to an equal. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bolded-names-in-posts/281133/12 "2004-12-23T06:49:27Z")
Another reason to do so is that some posters take creative names that would have an unintended double meaning if not cued that ‘here is a user’s name.’ E.g., let’s say posts in the Pit: _“Yeah, your mama doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about.”_ If that followed someone else’s post, that someone else might think that this was an insult of their biological mother, when, in fact, it was a reference to the board member whose name is **your mama**. They’d be less confusion if everyone saw this: _“Yeah, **your mama** doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about.”_ Peace.