# If You Weren't You, Who Would You Be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836 "2013-05-20T16:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/21 "2013-05-20T23:20:00Z")
Every screen name I have ever had has had the word **FOG** in it. ---
**Author:** ![minionkat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@minionkat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minionkat)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/22 "2013-05-20T23:47:46Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Hey, this is already my second choice doper name. My first one sucked, so I changed it. Exactly this. I use this ID lots of other places, so it is who I am now. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/23 "2013-05-21T07:05:21Z")
I have used other names on other message boards: cemetery polka laiskuri swedish kamikaze anfangel dongobel …and others, now forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/24 "2013-05-21T08:08:45Z")
**Slartibartfasterthanyou** 😃 And a big HAHAHA for “cemetery polka”. That rocks and fits my mentality. I’ll be at a funeral and wonder if anyone ever had a polka band… ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/25 "2013-05-21T08:55:29Z")
Hmm…I’ve always been \*\*sandra\_nz \*\*on t’interwebs. It’s amusing on this forum when I say in my post that I now live in the UK but people reply as if I still live in New Zealand. i guess the other name I would use is **mooma** , which is my World of Warcraft main’s name. (She’s a tauren and I like Big Books.) I’m not sure doper names really have that much impact on how I perceive people’s posts. Quite often someone will reference someone’s name and I’ll have to do a double-take because I hadn’t read their name that way. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/26 "2013-05-21T10:11:09Z")
No idea. I’ve been GuanoLad everywhere. I did at first experiment with his superhero counterpart, PigeonMan, but that just makes me look like an owner of a rooftop coop, and was actually a common username even in the early days of IRC. I’d probably find a reasonably obscure character from entertainment, such as **Vyvyan Basterd** or **Johnny Alpha** or **The Leopard from Lime St**. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/27 "2013-05-21T13:35:05Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Not a bit metaphysical here. For whatever reason you picked your Doper name, which undoubtedly has an effect on how other Dopers perceive you. > > So, IF you hadn’t picked your present Doper Handle, what was your second choice? I have no idea. WordMan just fits as a nickname IRL and when I was taking baby steps to participate on a (gasp) message board (hey, I was a noobie! ;)), having a familiar nickname kinda helped. Now, after being involved for years, I suppose something like Guitar Geek would work…but, nah, I’m WordMan… ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/28 "2013-05-21T14:49:31Z")
Well, I don’t post much - and my handle is completely meaningless. I’ve thought about changing it to Bovine, because when I do post something it’s mostly bull. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/29 "2013-05-21T15:15:14Z")
When I first joined in 2005, I used my real name. A few kind posters suggested that I pick something more anonymous. At the time I did the name change, my computer desk top photo was a head shot I took of a canebrake rattler (Crotalus horridus). If I used the same method of choosing now I would use my grandson’s name: Milo. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/30 "2013-05-21T21:55:18Z")
Henry F. Potter, and my location would be “Pottersville, formerly Bedford Falls”. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/31 "2013-05-22T00:12:48Z")
Post #15 made me laugh out loud! ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/32 "2013-05-22T03:49:25Z")
Cunuculous Dreams. Because its Spring! ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/33 "2013-05-22T06:12:00Z")
> [@manila](#): > > Cunuculous Dreams. > > Because its Spring! But I would spell it correctly “Cuniculous Dreams” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/34 "2013-05-22T07:53:48Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > **Slartibartfasterthanyou** 😃 > > And a big HAHAHA for “cemetery polka”. That rocks and fits my mentality. I’ll be at a funeral and wonder if anyone ever had a polka band… Actually it is a Tom Waits song title, and has nothing to do with cemeteries and is not a polka. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836/35 "2013-05-22T16:06:51Z")
For some reason, I just now developed a sudden urge to be known as: **Professor Annie Portina Storm, Institute of Crisis Management** …but of course, I’m not a girl. Also, it’s a bit long. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-werent-you-who-would-you-be/658836.md?page=1)