# TV Characters' Initials **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053 "2004-12-15T23:10:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [December 17, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/41 "2004-12-17T03:46:41Z")
Yes, his given name is just B.J. But he was named after his parents Bea and Jay. He wasn’t joking about that. (Or at least that’s what it says in my big book of M_A_S\*H geekery.) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/42 "2004-12-17T05:12:39Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > What about that coyote’s middle initial? Wile E Coyote So he’s [wily.](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=wily) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/43 "2004-12-17T05:18:07Z")
Sure, he’s wily. Heck, his business card says that he’s a super-genius! But what does his middle initial stand for? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/44 "2004-12-17T05:30:06Z")
It’s a pun. Say “Wile E” fast and it comes out “WILY.” So, I guess you could say it doesn’t matter on his. Let’s make one up! Wile Eclectic Wile Eduardo Wile Escobar Wile Estaban Wile Estafan Wile Eustation Yeah, I got nuthin… ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/45 "2004-12-17T05:38:40Z")
Einstein? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/46 "2004-12-17T06:12:28Z")
You’ve been whooshed, **NoClueBoy**. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/47 "2004-12-17T06:27:10Z")
Not really. Though I figured you knew it, you’d be surprised how many people I’ve seen that don’t know it. When they finally get it, the look on their faces is priceless. So, I took the woosh bait just in case. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/48 "2004-12-17T07:15:09Z")
It’s me, it’s me, it’s Ernest T. (Bass)! So, does that T stand for anything? Or is he Tiberius, too? ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/49 "2004-12-17T19:30:24Z")
My favorite growing up was Sheriff Rosco _Peeeeeeeeeeee._ Coltrane from **The Dukes of Hazzard**. The P. stood for Purvis. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/50 "2004-12-17T21:24:17Z")
What about **J.R. Ewing** from “Dallas”? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/51 "2004-12-17T21:32:04Z")
Roseanne and Dan’s kid is David Jacob Connor. But what about DJ Tanner? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/52 "2004-12-17T21:36:44Z")
IIRC, J. R. == John Ross. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/53 "2004-12-17T23:36:18Z")
Arthur’s (the cartoon aardvark) sister is “D.W.” which stands for Dora Winnifred. Brian ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/54 "2004-12-17T23:54:25Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > _Spock: Right. What’s with that? A god wouldn’t make such a grave mistake._ I know this is a quote from a novel, not from **emekthian** , but since when does Spock say “what’s with that?”? > [@Odinoneeye](#): > > T. stands for The as in Kermit The Frog I never thought Kermit was saying “T.” I thought he was pronouncing “the” with a long e, as in “Kermit Theeee Frog here…” ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/55 "2004-12-18T00:02:28Z")
^^^That’s from some humorous bit. Spock never said that on screen or in a novel. “Grave mistake” (Kirk was about to be buried by Mitchell and the tombstone read “James R. Kirk”)–get it? However in one of the old fotonovels they misplaced two words in one of Spock’s “word baloons” and instead os it being “What is it?” it read, “What it is.” Fellow geeks and I laughed as we imagined Kirk replying, “Right on, bro.” Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/56 "2004-12-18T00:20:25Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > Roseanne and Dan’s kid is David Jacob Connor. > > But what about DJ Tanner? [Donna Jo Tanner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_House). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/57 "2004-12-18T01:42:06Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > However in one of the old fotonovels they misplaced two words in one of Spock’s “word baloons” and instead os it being “What is it?” it read, “What it is.” Gaudere’s Law strikes again. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/58 "2004-12-18T01:45:26Z")
Doesn’t her law deal with pointing out grammar mistakes, not inversion of words, or word order? Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/59 "2004-12-18T02:16:54Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Gaudere’s Law strikes again. It struck twice, actually. > [@](#): > > “word baloons” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053/60 "2004-12-18T02:21:08Z")
Fotonovels have word balloons. Unless it’s a story about mimes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-initials/280053.md?page=4)