# Explain you username **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694 "2012-02-23T03:51:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/181 "2012-02-26T17:42:50Z")
I thought it was cool when I was 19. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/182 "2012-02-26T18:33:16Z")
I’m not rich, famous, powerful, or influential… Well, you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Fred\_Garvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c67d28/32.png) [@Fred\_Garvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred_Garvin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/183 "2012-02-26T19:52:54Z")
All through my younger days, i never went anywhere without wearing a baseball cap. Some people actually were under the belief that I was balding, as they had never seen me sans cap. One night, a bunch of friends were sitting around, including one who was wearing a newly acquired fedora. The conversation turned to if I would ever wear a fedora or any kind of head ware that wasn’t ablazed with some team’s insignia. The friend offered me his fedora to try on, then another friend lent me his rimmed glasses and just as I put them on, all I heard was “Fred Garvin, MALE PROSTITUTE” ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/184 "2012-02-26T19:56:44Z")
Taomist is totally a gaming name. I’ve had many people on phone games where I use the name ask if I’m a Taoist or what-not, but no. 1. My first online game was EQ. I was a druid, by the name of Mistwalk Shadowrun. 😛 2. My second game was DAoC. I was a Friar, and I wanted a monk-type name; Taolynn was born. 3. There was a very active server/board for the DAoC game, and it got so people would see the Taolynn name and be far more sociable than I naturally am, lol. So when it came to online things, I wanted another name besides Taolynn. Tao+Mist and there ya go. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/185 "2012-02-26T23:30:31Z")
I finally decided to sign up after lurking for a while, and I needed a user name. Boyfriend was watching “The Venture Bros.” while I was registering, and guess who my favorite character is? 😃 That and I sound like her when I get a sinus infection. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/186 "2012-02-27T03:36:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That’s the same password I have. Amazing! Mine is ‘password’. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/187 "2012-02-27T13:09:28Z")
My [picture](http://www.nouilles.info/sdpix/39745.html) in the SDMB Portrait Gallery should explain everything… ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/188 "2012-02-27T14:02:25Z")
I picked up the name Ralf from a friend (who was also called Ralf) when I was in college in Traverse City, MI, back in the mid 70’s. (No, it wasn’t because I was ralfing, or praying to porcelain, or calling Buford, or any of the other euphemisms for the technicolor belch. Not that ever happened - much). But Ralf (who was really named Dave) called everyone Ralf. And since I was studying to be a computer programmer and worked part-time at the computer center with Ralf/Dave, I added the surname Coder, to distinguish me from the rest. Of course, Ralf was already a programmer, so this only worked among the group of Ralfs that worked or studied or hung out at the computer center. It made sense at the time, and the name has lasted since then. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/189 "2012-02-27T14:30:18Z")
My username is Spanish for “The Kabong”. . . . . . Actually, I had a previous nick here, but hated it, and when I decided to change it the first thing that popped into my head was the sound of a guitar smashing, followed by the image of a cartoon horse from a 1960s Hanna-Barbera animated series. Given that I increasingly seem to have dyslexia of the fingers, I maybe should have chosen “El Kabing” instead, since that’s what I actually end up typing more than half the time. If I were to do it over again, I think I’d choose the name of one of the sentient spaceships from an Iain M. Banks novel, but that’s another story. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/190 "2012-02-27T15:30:22Z")
These threads are fun to read and worth having as often as someone feels the need, IMO. Mine’s not very interesting. I have always been fascinated by snakes, and rattlesnakes are the most fascinating snakes of all to me. Most rattlesnakes belong to the genus Crotalus. I think I tried something related to guitar-playing when I signed up, but it wasn’t available. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/191 "2012-02-27T15:30:47Z")
Clothahump is the name of the elderly turtle wizard in Alan Dean Foster’s SPELLSINGER novel series. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/192 "2012-02-27T15:31:29Z")
Middle name is “Anne;” Birthday is December 25th. I was a huge fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber long before he wrote the musical “Whistle Down The Wind,” which included the song “Annie Christmas.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/193 "2012-02-27T16:01:38Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > So I was rummaging through the big plastic tub and in there was a smurf drinking a beer. I found it amusing and stepmom said I could have it. > > Here’s a pic of it because I wouldn’t have believed it myself. > > [http://drunkysmurf.tumblr.com/](http://drunkysmurf.tumblr.com/) But of course. Peyo was Belgian; if he’d been French, that smurf would drink wine. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/194 "2012-02-27T20:32:14Z")
Zefram Cochrane. In 2063 I will create Earth’s first antimatter warp drive engine, attracting the attention of a space-faring race from a world orbiting the star 40 Eridani A. In time, our worlds will help establish an interstellar Federation of planets. Although at the time, I was only in it for the money. ---
**Author:** ![La\_Beldame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@La\_Beldame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/La_Beldame)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/195 "2012-02-27T22:15:11Z")
When I was younger I frequently used “La Belle Dame sans Merci.” I’m older and crankier now. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/196 "2012-02-27T22:42:55Z")
Mine’s an alternatie spelling of my maternal grandmother’s name, Katherina. I should have been the next Katherina in my generation, but in-law politics triumphed and I got stuck with an undignified, overly-cutesey name that doesn’t belong on anyone over the age of about 5. The dirty little secret is that my middle name (Kay) is a stand-in for Katherina. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/197 "2012-02-27T23:19:53Z")
My sisters and I had a defective Casper the Friendly Ghost talking doll when we were kids. One of the phrases he was supposed to say was “I’m a FRIENDLY ghost!” But the recording was garbled, and we always thought it sounded like he was saying “I’m a FRECK a free.” I’ve used freckafree for various screen names for a number of years. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/198 "2012-02-28T03:29:29Z")
Seldom Seen Smith was a polygamous jack-mormon river-runner in the Edward Abbey novel _[The Monkey Wrench Gang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Wrench_Gang)_, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite novels. SS ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/199 "2012-02-28T08:01:12Z")
> [@CateAyo](#): > > It is my tribal name. Cash award (not really) if anyone can idenitfiy the language and translation. Mvskoke/Muscogee/Creek language. ‘Red Hawk’ ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694/200 "2012-02-28T08:03:22Z")
I liked Bob Dylan’s song “Visions of Johanna.” I follow the interpretation of the song in which “Johanna” refers to Joan Baez. I’m a big Baez fan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-you-username/613694.md?page=11)