# What are unacceptable usernames? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 23, 2002, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561 "2002-10-23T18:38:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/22 "2002-10-26T18:36:21Z")
Q: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > **C K Dexter** , is there a set rule about length? There are some remarkably long names here. A: “no, there are not a fixed set of rules, it’s mostly common sense. If we had fixed rules, people would try to find ways to circumvent them, and we don’t want to waste time with that kinda crap.” ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/23 "2002-10-26T18:48:35Z")
🙂 Yes, I know you said that. Didn’t know you were applying it to length as well, since that does not have to be subjective. ---
**Author:** ![knock\_knock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@knock\_knock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knock_knock)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/24 "2002-10-26T19:29:32Z")
I thought of signing up under the name Tsarcasm, but figured that probably wouldn’t be appreciated by the Administrators (or the Mods). ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/25 "2002-10-26T19:45:17Z")
Actually, dantheman, length can be subjective as well. Which of these two names is “longer”? illillillillillillil (20 characters) mwmwmwmwmwmwmwmwmwmw (20 characters) ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/26 "2002-10-26T20:14:07Z")
I didn’t say it couldn’t. I said it doesn’t have to be. Oh well, I was just looking for a simple answer - guess there isn’t one. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/27 "2002-10-26T21:30:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > illillillillillillil The cry of the Bantu warrior going into battle. > [@](#): > > mwmwmwmwmwmwmwmwmwmw The cry of that guy trying to answer the “Who shot Alexander Hamilton” question on the first “Got Milk?” commercial. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/28 "2002-10-26T21:40:40Z")
PS: Arnold: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/29 "2002-10-27T00:33:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*There’s a “good taste” rule in there somewhere… \*\* I was wondering about this, because in the last week or so I’ve noticed a couple of usernames that I thought would catch the eye of a mod or admin: dogshit and rhymes with duck cough. I’m not offended by them, but I am amused that someone would voluntarily choose to be known by that moniker. Moreover, I’m curious about how closely these names tread to the edge of the ‘good taste’ boundaries. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/30 "2002-10-27T01:20:25Z")
I bet those guys are being watched _very_ carefully, **Audrey**. 😉 I would think - and I’m only guessing, of course - that if the username had a cuss in it, the person would be emailed with a request to change it as soon as possible. Of course, with so many members and so few moderators and administrators, sometimes it’s just not possible to get them before they post. But they sure seem to do a great job of keeping the riff-raff out… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/31 "2002-10-28T03:11:04Z")
Of course, sometimes with similar usernames, one or both of the parties will ask the admins for a name change. That’s generally considered a reasonable request. And usually, one or both of the members in question has zero or one posts, so it’s not even an issue in the first place. Sometimes, of course, they just peacefully coexist: So far as I know, for instance, **yojimbo** and **yojimboguy** don’t have any problem with each other. There are also two names along the lines of “needs to know”, but I don’t think I would remember how to spell which one. Is there really an “ **Ino** ” and a “ **lno** ”? I knew we had one of those, but I never bothered to check the letter to know which. And I certainly didn’t bother to check both! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/32 "2002-10-28T03:25:11Z")
> [@](#): > > There are also two names along the lines of “needs to know”, but I don’t think I would remember how to spell which one. And, of course, it’s only _now_ that I notice that one of them has already posted to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/33 "2002-10-31T14:58:45Z")
**Ino** isn’t currently a registered username; at least, “[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&username=Ino](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&username=Ino)” turns up nothing. But people frequently misread “ **lno** ” as “ **Ino** ”. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/34 "2002-11-01T00:17:20Z")
I assumed it was a whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/35 "2002-11-01T15:37:43Z")
Wasn’t there a member called Member? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/36 "2002-11-04T00:45:18Z")
I don’t see anything wrong with **Tsarcasm**. It’s not a curse word, it’s not offensive. Only reason I can see you would have been worried is something to do with implied superiority complex or something. Given that we’ve had a **Satan** and a **Gawd** , and numerous other names proclaiming themselves king or emperor or the like (no specifics coming to mind), nothing even borderline on **Tsarcasm**. Heck, there’s a **Sarcasm** running around, isn’t there? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561/37 "2002-11-04T02:13:24Z")
Heh, Irishman, I hope you’re trying to whoosh us all… You know perfectly well that **Czarcasm** is a moderator… right? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-unacceptable-usernames/133561.md?page=1)