# What does your username say about you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287 "2009-11-20T14:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/101 "2009-11-22T08:05:11Z")
I enjoy confusing people, until one day, in the fullness of time, they figure it out and go :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/102 "2009-11-22T08:42:46Z")
I was watching some show on the discovery channel, maybe, about sea monsters. The guy was talking about various blobs of dead something that had washed up on shore that he had studied to determine what they were. When he mentioned the Chilean blob I went “WHOAH!! Killer rasslin’ name!” and I now have an entire alter ego who speaks in the third person (a la The Rock) and who regularly calls out my husband/tag team partner/nemesis, **The Hegemon**. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/103 "2009-11-22T15:09:26Z")
My user name comes from a song by [La Bottine Souriante.](http://www.bottinesouriante.com/intro.php?lg=en)[2033](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDMMSdBt1A4) is a surreal fable about a man who goes hunting geese only to find the geese have all disappeared. He shoots ‘two shells into an empty sky’, and writes a letter. By the tenth of the month, he gets a response from Le Ministre de l’au-delà (‘The Minister from Beyond’). I love this band, especially the way they blend traditional Québécois folk music with modern jazz, occasionally sounding like a missing link between New Orleans jazz and modern Cajun music. Their ability to take diverse outside influences from different time periods and still, though it all, consistently sound like themselves resonates deeply with me, even though this isn’t a style of music I’ve ever played. (Though my Scottish-Canadian grandfather used to play Québécois fiddle tunes for the Ukrainian dances in Alberta, but that’s a whole other story.) This particular song has always sounded like a type of liturgy to me. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/104 "2009-11-22T18:56:43Z")
My user name was supposed to be kitchenblue, from a song by David Wilcox, but as I was typing it, our then-new kitten Tweak jumped up on the keyboard. I said, “Get down, kitten” just as I was typing kitchen, and typed kitten instead. Since sitting above the desk was a blue glass cat my kids had given me for Christmas, I decided I liked kitten better and didn’t change it. We’re not even going to discuss being depressed and surrounded by cats…because it’s not about that! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/105 "2009-11-22T19:58:41Z")
Ellen Cherry Charles is a character in a couple of Tom Robbins novels. Ellen is my real name, and it’s the one I signed up with all those years ago, but pretty soon decided it was too boring and requested it be changed. I’ve used it elsewhere but it’s often taken. ---
**Author:** ![BeeDubU2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BeeDubU2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeDubU2)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/106 "2009-11-22T22:59:07Z")
My initials. My Dad is the first BW. ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/107 "2009-11-23T13:55:48Z")
I started playing EVE online(spaceship mmo, for those that don’t know), then quit, and my older brother took over my account. Then I got the itch to play again, so I made a new character. In EVE you can name your ships, and being a Bloom County fan, had been in the habit of naming them USS Enterpoop. So, logically enough, the new name I picked was the captain of the USS Enterpoop, Cutter John. Kept it for the past 6 years now. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/108 "2009-11-23T14:10:36Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Ellen Cherry Charles is a character in a couple of Tom Robbins novels. Cool! For some reason I thought you were referring to Max Cherry (a character in the movie [Jackie Brown](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Brown_%28film%29), one of my favorite movies. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/109 "2009-11-23T14:49:43Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Mine says “backrubs sometimes lead to something better.” So then “know” is in the biblical sense? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/110 "2009-11-23T15:08:12Z")
My last name is Anne, my B-day is 12/25 and I was a megafan of Andrew Lloyd Webber long before he wrote “Annie Christmas” for his musical “Whistle Down the Wind” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/111 "2009-11-23T16:01:00Z")
Once upon a time upon the Internet I was **jr8** , my first and last initials plus an extra character because a lot of sites required at least three characters for a name. Then I discovered that others were pronouncing it “Gyrate” and thought “Ah, whatthehell.” I do not, in person, gyrate. I won’t dance. Don’t ask me. ---
**Author:** ![StoutHearted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@StoutHearted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StoutHearted)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/112 "2009-11-23T17:34:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > One English translation ends with “My panache.” Another translation (which I prefer) ends with “My white plume.” In French, panache can mean a flourish, like say a big feather in your hat, or it can mean the essence of your soul, your mojo. When Cyrano says there’s one thing they can’t take from him, “mon panache,” he’s not referring to his trademark feather, but his very soul. That last line has caused a bit of a headache for several translators, some of whom used the word “feather,” “plume,” or just let it be with “panache.” I love _Cyrano_ so much, but a lot of the witty wordplay just doesn’t translate perfectly into English. Pretty much the only reason I remember any French anymore is because I love to reread _Cyrano_ and _Gigi_. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/113 "2009-11-23T18:10:38Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > So then “know” is in the biblical sense? Precisely. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/114 "2009-11-23T18:19:20Z")
Mine says “I am a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for my white, bulbous taproot, and I’m made of polyvinyl chloride.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/115 "2009-11-23T18:28:59Z")
Zeriel was my old gaming handle–my buddies and I back in the day were forming a team for online games, and somehow we decided on angel names for no clear reason. I’m the only one who’s stuck with it–“Zeriel” is the Angel of Strength, and also transliterated about a million different ways. Sometimes I add a Meholick for a last name, as that’s the name of the branch of my family (grandmother on mom’s side) that I identify with most culturally. Since I spend entirely too much time online, there is a stunningly large subset of people I know who call me Z or Meho even in person. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/116 "2009-11-23T18:42:09Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Since I spend entirely too much time online, there is a stunningly large subset of people I know who call me Z or Meho even in person. Back in the mid 90’s I went by Maverick, based on the movie starring James Garner, Jodie Foster, and Mel Gibson. Anyway, in real life there were a lot of people who thought it was my real name and I played along for a while. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/117 "2009-11-23T19:16:57Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Since I spend entirely too much time online, there is a stunningly large subset of people I know who call me Z or Meho even in person. > [@Nobody](#): > > Anyway, in real life there were a lot of people who thought it was my real name and I played along for a while. I am always getting called some form of the word “Melody” - even one of my best friends (whom I met first online) calls me “Mel Mel” and never my RL name. One awkward moment involved being introduced by a date to his parents as “Melody.” I decided not to correct him in front of them and just mentioned it laughingly to him after. (I’d already determined it wasn’t going to work so why sweat it?) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/118 "2009-11-23T19:49:16Z")
My handle really has no meaning whatsoever. Many years ago, nearly 20 at this point, I made up the name “Robardin” to use on AberMUD games I was running on, when I discovered that my first character’s name “Telengard” was often already taken on other, similar MUDs (for obvious reasons). Later as I signed on to message boards I’d also find that the obvious handle based on my name in RL was also taken. So I fell back to using my old AberMUD handle. If you Google my RL name I’m on page 6 on a good day. But Google my handle and it’s pretty much all me, baby. (Which also means you could easily find me in RL thru my online handle if you wanted to, via LiveJournal, FaceBook, WebShots, any of a number of forums including this one, etc., etc…) I think one AberMUD from that era of the late 1980s/early 1990s is still up, DragonMUD, and the last time I thought to check (maybe a year ago) I still had a valid character there under “Robardin”. Good times. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![breaking-reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@breaking-reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaking-reality)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/119 "2009-11-23T20:04:01Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > One awkward moment involved being introduced by a date to his parents as “Melody.” I decided not to correct him in front of them and just mentioned it laughingly to him after. (I’d already determined it wasn’t going to work so why sweat it?) Did you determine it wasn’t going to work out because he didn’t even know your real name by the time he was introducing you to his parents? 😛 My username “breaking-reality” has been my online identity since I was a teenager. I guess back then I thought it possible to break reality (I’m a photographer/writer/artist in general). Now I like to think I’m just breaking/changing reality, one day at a time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-username-say-about-you/518287/120 "2009-11-24T04:33:19Z")
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