# Confusion on Doper names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732 "2006-11-01T15:16:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/21 "2006-11-01T19:37:59Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > I still see **Bobotheoptimist** as Bobtheoptimist. Holy crap, I’d never noticed that I’d had that wrong before. Ditto **WOOKINPANUB** , except for me it’s “wok in a pub,” for no discernible reason. Then there’s **Punoqllads**. I’m not sure that’s even pronounceable anyway, but ever since she explained that it’s “spellbound” upside down, I’ve just thought of it that way. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/22 "2006-11-01T19:46:10Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I’ve had various and sundry Dopers put a “g” in my user name. I have no idea why. [/QUOTE] Yeah, “ivylagss” doesn’t make much sense at all. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/23 "2006-11-01T19:49:11Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I still see **Bobotheoptimist** as _Bob_theoptimist. [/QUOTE] I like Bob the Optimist. Gives me a mental picture of that smiling guy from the Enzyte commercial. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/24 "2006-11-01T19:55:45Z")
[QUOTE=Surok] I also have trouble with **WOOKINPANUB** and read it as **WOOKINAPUB** , pronounced Wookieinapub. And for some reason, I find the name quite exceptionally squicky. Sorry, **WOOKINPANUB**. Nothing personal. [/QUOTE] No offense indeed! Hmmmmph. :dubious: 😉 Would it be less squicky if I explained it’s “lookin’ for love” as pronounced by Buckwheat from the Our Gang movies? What’s that? You find it even \*squickier \* now? As for **norinew** , I always thought it was a play on “no renew” like you were trying to tell us you would \*not \* be renewing your subscription here. And when I see **Mbossa** , I think of “Mombassa”, only I say it to myself the way Grace did when she was mocking Will on W & G. “Ah yesssssss,Mmmmmombassa” ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/25 "2006-11-01T19:56:59Z")
I just saw **Cunctator** ’s name in another thread, and looking at it, it finally dawned on me: It says **Cunctator**. Not _ **Cuncanator** _! (Sounds like: CUNK-in-nate-or) For some reason, it just always sounded like some kind of superhero name, or supervillian, or maybe even a Transformer of some sort. But it’s not. It’s **Cunctator**. I have no more idea what that means than what _Cuncanator_ means, but I am a little saddened. It doesn’t sound nearly as Transformer-y to me, now. ☹ On preview: I Googled. I see a Roman Commander whose name means “delayer”. He does not appear to turn into a car or giant robot. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/26 "2006-11-01T19:59:04Z")
[QUOTE=Anastasaeon] I just saw **Cunctator** ’s name in another thread, and looking at it, it finally dawned on me: It says **Cunctator**. Not _ **Cuncanator** _! (Sounds like: CUNK-in-nate-or)[/SIZE] [/QUOTE] I just think “cunt” whenever I see his/her screen name. “Cuntinator?” I think to myself. “Cuntcanker? No. Eww. Couldn’t be.” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/27 "2006-11-01T20:00:23Z")
[QUOTE=ShelliBean] I always read it as “why be a wife” and look for the hidden hardcore feminism in the posts. Yes, I know it’s “-fy”. It’s just how I see it. [/QUOTE] Wow, I just noticed this post, and that’s how I always parsed it, as well. Why Be A Wife (wyfe?). However, I never noticed the -fy before. I don’t feel quite so clever, now! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/28 "2006-11-01T20:27:39Z")
**MGibson** obviously is Mel despite the fact that there have never been any drunken anti-Semitic rants posted. **Frostillicus** reads as Frosticulus. I guess that would be what a man gets when he skinny dips in a frozen lake. **WOOKINPANUB** always seems right but I keep hearing Eddie Murphy’s voice singing it. **Batsinma Belfry** I see as Batsina, not Batsinma. Minor difference I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/29 "2006-11-01T20:29:46Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] Thank God, I thought I was the only one. I actually felt foolish when I realized spingears WASN’T spring ears. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Until THIS very thread, so did I. I’ll just go off and sulk in a corner now… **WOOKINPANUB** , oddly enough I got from the first time I read it, and I didn’t even like the Our Gang kids. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/30 "2006-11-01T20:37:28Z")
[QUOTE=Anastasaeon] I just saw **Cunctator** ’s name in another thread, and looking at it, it finally dawned on me: It says **Cunctator**. Not _ **Cuncanator** _! (Sounds like: CUNK-in-nate-or) For some reason, it just always sounded like some kind of superhero name, or supervillian, or maybe even a Transformer of some sort. But it’s not. It’s **Cunctator**. I have no more idea what that means than what _Cuncanator_ means, but I am a little saddened. It doesn’t sound nearly as Transformer-y to me, now. ☹ On preview: I Googled. I see a Roman Commander whose name means “delayer”. He does not appear to turn into a car or giant robot. [/QUOTE] I always thought CUNCTATOR was a play on DICTATOR. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/31 "2006-11-01T20:42:42Z")
A lot of screen names for me are just like hard to pronounce alien names in sci-fi novels. Bene Tleilax or Tleilaxu in the _Dune_ novels for instance. My eyes encounter the word, my brain quickly decides it’s too much work to sound it out and from then on I “hear” it in my head as something more pronounceable. Like “tilAXoo.” ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/32 "2006-11-01T20:51:45Z")
For me it’s **picunurse**. Until she posted about a nursing topic, I thought of it as “pick you nurse”, when what it stands for is “PICU nurse” – a nurse in a pediatric intensive care unit. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/33 "2006-11-01T20:52:13Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I still see **Bobotheoptimist** as _Bob_theoptimist. [/QUOTE] Wow, until this very minute I thought it was “Bob the Optometrist.” I was way off. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/34 "2006-11-01T20:52:30Z")
[QUOTE=BwanaBob] I always thought CUNCTATOR was a play on DICTATOR. [/QUOTE] :eek: Good one. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/35 "2006-11-01T20:55:53Z")
[QUOTE=norinew] It didn’t occur to me that anyone would read my name as nori new until people in threads started addressing me as “nori”. This was my first ever message board, and it didn’t even occur to me to come up with some punny name or witty cultural reference. I just used the same name ISPs have been sticking on my email for years: first name, last initial. [/QUOTE] Oops… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/36 "2006-11-01T21:25:37Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] For me it’s **picunurse**. Until she posted about a nursing topic, I thought of it as “pick you nurse”, when what it stands for is “PICU nurse” – a nurse in a pediatric intensive care unit. [/QUOTE] I always read it as pick you nurse as well, even though I knew what it meant. And I am pretty sure that “she” is a “he” although I might be wrong with that one, too. ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/37 "2006-11-01T21:28:40Z")
I suck at acting. My SDMB name is my first initial and last name. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/38 "2006-11-01T21:32:46Z")
[QUOTE=dahfisheroo] I always read it as pick you nurse as well, even though I knew what it meant. And I am pretty sure that “she” is a “he” although I might be wrong with that one, too. [/QUOTE] She’s a she, and she’s a sweetheart. We’ve discussed her name at Seattle Trivia, and many of us parsed it as “peek-oo-nurse” - kind of like pikachu. Heh. She’s cute enough to pull it off. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/39 "2006-11-01T21:39:15Z")
[QUOTE=Anastasaeon] Wow, I just noticed this post, and that’s how I always parsed it, as well. Why Be A Wife (wyfe?). However, I never noticed the -fy before. I don’t feel quite so clever, now! :smack: [/QUOTE] It isn’t -fy, it’s -yf. Take another look. And I’m pretty sure “why be a wife” is precisely the intended meaning. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732/40 "2006-11-01T21:44:56Z")
I always assumed that **Anastaseon** , **Aesiron** , and **Asterion** were fans of some sort of franchise (Buffy? Naruto? Star Trek?) that I just wasn’t aware of, and were intentionally patterning their names after some sort of naming convention of that series. Turns out it’s just a coincidence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusion-on-doper-names/378732.md?page=3)