# Can user names be altered for satiric purposes in the Pit?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [January 9, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687 "2017-01-09T00:51:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/1 "2017-01-09T00:51:09Z")
I’ve reread the rules but unless I’ve missed it I can’t see a specific rule forbidding it, although I’m not sure whether this board operates under the legal principle of \*nulla poena sine lege \*, ie no law no penalty, or everything that isn’t expressly forbidden is OK.
So is it cool to alter a name, should I be so minded, or not cool at all?
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### Author:  [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/2 "2017-01-09T00:52:55Z")
Name calling is fine, notwithstanding other rules including not altering text in the quote box.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/3 "2017-01-09T00:56:09Z")
There’s one certain poster who regularly gets his name altered (in the Pit) even by mods.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/4 "2017-01-09T01:03:44Z")
People often alter names in an insulting way in the Pit. And well-known posters are often referred to by nicknames in other forums. There’s no rule against it, other than no insults outside the Pit.
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> although I’m not sure whether this board operates under the legal principle of \*nulla poena sine lege \*, ie no law no penalty, or everything that isn’t expressly forbidden is OK.
No, we don’t operate that way.
From the Registration Agreement:
> [@](#):
>
> We have one guiding principle: Don’t be a jerk.
And:
> [@](#):
>
> Please remember that you are our guest here, and that we reserve the right to exclude you at our whim, for any or no reason whatsoever…By registering and using the board you acknowledge this right and agree to abide by our rules and to submit to their interpretation and enforcement by our moderators and editors.
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/5 "2017-01-09T15:15:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> No, we don’t operate that way.
I thought the Catch-22 jerk rule might cover anything left out. 🙂
Thank you, guys.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/6 "2017-01-09T15:49:46Z")
But, can you alter a person’s name inside a quote box in the Pit?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/7 "2017-01-09T15:56:52Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> I thought the Catch-22 jerk rule might cover anything left out. 🙂
If we tried to detail all the possible ways to be a jerk, the rules list would be the length of the phone book. We’ve found that the TM are extremely inventive in finding ways to be a jerk that we would never have imagined. 😉
For the same reason, offenses like “disorderly conduct” and “being a public nuisance” are kept on the books.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/8 "2017-01-09T17:16:22Z")
I recall getting whapped for using a diminutive of someone’s name, with jocular intent. It may not have been in the Pit but it was in a contentious thread.
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### Author:  [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/9 "2017-01-09T17:47:04Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> I recall getting whapped for using a diminutive of someone’s name, with jocular intent. It may not have been in the Pit but it was in a contentious thread.
That was a GQ thread.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/10 "2017-01-09T18:22:40Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> But, can you alter a person’s name inside a quote box in the Pit?
No. Text inside a quote box, including the username, should not be altered.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/11 "2017-01-09T18:36:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> No. Text inside a quote box, including the username, should not be altered.
So you’re saying “the username … should … be altered.”
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/12 "2017-01-09T18:44:55Z")
> [@Bone](#):
>
> That was a GQ thread.
I see my files are right at hand. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/13 "2017-01-09T18:49:04Z")
I’m still trying to figure out what all the buttons do. There’s that one that says “for Marley only” and it’s so shiny it seems like it’d be fun to push.
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### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/14 "2017-01-09T18:53:44Z")
> [@Bone](#):
>
> I’m still trying to figure out what all the buttons do. There’s that one that says “for Marley only” and it’s so shiny it seems like it’d be fun to push.
Go ahead, make yourself famous (at least around here).😃
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/15 "2017-01-09T20:41:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> If we tried to detail all the possible ways to be a jerk, the rules list would be the length of the phone book…
[These 44](http://www.aish.com/h/hh/yom-kippur/guide/Exploring_the_Al-Chet_Prayer.html) cover the waterfront for many Jews.
ETA: Which one(s) would cover OP? Somebody page **Dex** , speaking of “whatever happened to.”
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### Author:  [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-user-names-be-altered-for-satiric-purposes-in-the-pit/776687/16 "2017-01-19T13:51:39Z")
[Previous thread on this topic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=353003):
> [@Giraffe](#):
>
> There has been some confusion about whether or not there is a rule against changing someone’s username in order to insult them. I want to clarify that there is no such rule in the Pit.