# Posts & the signing thereof **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 17, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817 "2007-11-17T07:05:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/1 "2007-11-17T07:05:33Z")
People. Seriously, look at me. \ You don’t have to sign your posts. Really. You really don’t. Your name is clearly posted by the nice people that coded the board software. We know who you are. I understand that many on this board don’t frequent other boards… and that by [it’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=444321) very nature as a paid board we’re selecting for a more educated, stable type of poster. In particular the kind that can with wild abandon toss a handful of fliff at unca ceic for the privilege of posting here. And perhaps in some cases, the kind who would never post on a message board otherwise. It’s okay, you’re new to this. But stop it. It’s silly to sign your posts. Really. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/2 "2007-11-17T07:07:46Z")
Agreed. Cheers, PA ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/3 "2007-11-17T09:35:36Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/4 "2007-11-17T10:35:42Z")
Agreed as well. It seems pretentious to add your name, again, after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/5 "2007-11-17T10:55:02Z")
I remember when my dad was getting used to IMing. We’d sit there and have a conversation for about 20 minutes and he’d always end it just like a letter… > [@](#): > > Love, > > Dad ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/6 "2007-11-17T10:59:36Z")
I’ve actually run into a problem with that before. **Left Hand of Dorkness** signs his posts “Daniel”. From the time he joined the board, I used his signatory name when addressing or referencing him since, it seemed to me, that by signing his posts with it, it was the name he preferred. Suddenly, he announced to me one day (in the context of a general pile-on) that he would prefer that I not call him “Daniel”. Despite the unfortunate timing (I was dealing with enough already, thank you), I’ve honored his wishes ever since. And now every time I type out his rather long name, I do so with a shrug and a sigh. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/7 "2007-11-17T11:01:14Z")
And apart from that sig lines are an abomination. I turned them off when I realised that they were colouring my impression of the poster - “wanker”, “poseur”, “intellectual wannabe”, “only half as clever as you think”, “fascist” etc ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/8 "2007-11-17T11:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] And apart from that sig lines are an abomination. I turned them off when I realised that they were colouring my impression of the poster - “wanker”, “poseur”, “intellectual wannabe”, “only half as clever as you think”, “fascist” etc [/QUOTE] Don’t even get me started on sigs; I turned that shit off the very second I found the option. Although I have been thrown for a loop a time or two when a poster refers to something I can’t see, but that is very rare. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/9 "2007-11-17T11:32:45Z")
I’m “No Sigs” too. The PTB used to make people limit them to one showing per thread (or page or something — I can’t remember). ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/10 "2007-11-17T12:02:56Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Suddenly, he announced to me one day (in the context of a general pile-on) that he would prefer that I not call him “Daniel”. [/QUOTE] [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9184631&postcount=29](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9184631&postcount=29) 😃 Even though you’ve come to grips not to call him Daniel, if he continues to sign his posts with “Daniel”, I don’t see a problem what so ever with anyone calling him just that. If he doesn’t like it, he can sign with “Left Hand of Dorkness”. What a concept that would be. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/11 "2007-11-17T12:26:29Z")
Well, I like my sig, so there. 😛 Cheers, ivylass ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/12 "2007-11-17T12:33:25Z")
Bite me. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/13 "2007-11-17T13:20:09Z")
**Shodan** makes a good point. The fact that he always signs his posts the same way makes him memorable to me. I don’t think I often sign posts here, unless I’m the OP, and that’s to use my actual name, to add some humanity to what would otherwise just be a jumble of words. I don’t think it’s necessary to sign posts, but it’s just one of those human quirks that adds some individuality to the poster. Olives, Christy ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/14 "2007-11-17T14:16:49Z")
Yes. Please stop signing your posts! I don’t necessarily mind the “regards, Shodan” thing so much because it’s clearly a sign-off. But it does irk me when people just type their username at the bottom. It can be really confusing. Like this one poster, **Sailboat** …I’ll be reading his post, and it will say “Sailboat” at the end…and I’ll sit there wondering what the heck a sailboat has to do with anything. It’s confusing and annoying. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/15 "2007-11-17T14:25:53Z")
I do it occasionally, when there’s some “qualification” or relevant aside to my post – like in AA-related threads, I’ll sign off “twicks, sober 21 years,” or in threads about academia, I’ll sign off “twicks, PhD.” twicks, who has also turned off sigs 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/16 "2007-11-17T14:38:13Z")
I don’t mind sigs within reason. Y’all should consider yourself lucky IMAGE-BASED sigs aren’t allowed here. Just don’t sign off with “Cheers”, or then I shall have to kill you. Cheers, TLD ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/17 "2007-11-17T15:14:00Z")
My Og, no one has ever brought this up before. What an original thread. Your right, it is a terrible habit to sign off on a form of communication. No reasonable person would do this, especially for us posters whose sign-offs match our user name. Oh wait, mine does not. Jim (Besides, where else would I include my silly little asides that have often nothing to do with the rest of my post) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/18 "2007-11-17T15:19:06Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] I do it occasionally, when there’s some “qualification” or relevant aside to my post – like in AA-related threads, I’ll sign off “twicks, sober 21 years,” or in threads about academia, I’ll sign off “twicks, PhD.” twicks, who has also turned off sigs 😃 [/QUOTE] Exactly. This is how I (occasionally) use signing off as well. Sometimes it’s just a nice punchy ending to a post that reads better with some “oomph” at the end. WhyNot, who thinks \*\*twickster \*\*rocks ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/19 "2007-11-17T15:36:11Z")
On occaision, I find it helpful - when it’s a long post, then I don’t have to scroll back up to find out who posted it. I confess that I don’t get the signing real name when your user id is different, but it doesn’t bug me enough to make me ask why. I have routinely kept sig lines turned off, and have never turned it back on again, even when folks post ‘finally, a perfect opportunity to use my sig line’. Oddly I don’t mind the sign offs like a letter (‘regards, Shodan’ is the most obvious in my eyes- though in his case, the juxtiposition between the ‘bite me’ type of thing and ‘regards’ is amusing. Not in a belly busting way, but, still). ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817/20 "2007-11-17T15:36:33Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] And now every time I type out his rather long name, I do so with a shrug and a sigh. [/QUOTE] Maybe use **LHoD**? Thirty five percent fewer letters than Daniel! 😉 Respectfully suggested this seventeenth day of November, **vetbridge** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posts-the-signing-thereof/426817.md?page=2)