# Boomerang?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerang/36886>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [October 14, 2000, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerang/36886 "2000-10-14T09:26:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerang/36886/1 "2000-10-14T09:26:46Z")

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In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=42018), I noticed that the poster **Ghost** (you’ll find him down at the very bottom of page 1) has the status listed as “Boomerang”, instead of the usual “Member”, “BANNED”, or “TOO…” nevermind.

What’s up with this? Just a funky joke, or is it supposed to mean something, or is it like the lost proof for Fermat’s last theorem… it’s only supposed to drive me insane? Gaaaah, I’m confused!!! Gaaah!!!

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**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerang/36886/2 "2000-10-14T09:41:07Z")

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I figured the poster was like, you know, a boomerang. You hurl it away from you, but it just keeps coming back again…

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**Author:** ![Show\_Biz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@Show\_Biz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Show_Biz)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerang/36886/3 "2000-10-14T14:37:48Z")

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It’s something Lynn is doing now, to make banning “cute”.  
Why, exactly, I can’t for the life of me imagine, but there are other examples.

Ghost appears before in a thread that was edited by TubaDiva, that must have been offensive somehow-  
**[This is for The Urge…if you are not him/her …do not come in here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=20978)**

Notice the tag is different there: **Guest**  
I believe that’s what banned people became at the UBB-vB changeover.

As **Silo** just discovered, the old banned names are new again, so they can be reused.  
That’s probably what boomerang refers to.

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**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:** [October 14, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerang/36886/4 "2000-10-14T20:42:39Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Notice the tag is different there: Guest  
> I believe that’s what banned people became at the UBB-vB changeover.

Actually, that’s what everone became at the changeover. Check out **CKDextHavn** ’s thread on “remember to include the link” over in Comments on Mailbag Answers-- His first post there is as a guest.

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**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerang/36886/5 "2000-10-15T13:35:05Z")

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Actually, everyone is a guest in really old threads, like before last summer or so. Back when we used UBB, when someone was banned, they were given the status “unregistered”, which got translated into vBulletin as “guest”. Oh, and the edited thing in that thread was a link that, if followed, fucked with your computer.