# What is the origin of your SDMB name?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 4, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810 "2020-09-04T14:08:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 7

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/122 "2020-09-06T02:08:55Z")

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> [@TheCuse](#):
>
> I’m from Syracuse. Pretty simple.

And I’m from Mercota.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/123 "2020-09-06T02:39:05Z")

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> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> If you don’t live near–or have never been to–DC, there is a stretch of the Capital Beltway that should interest you: heading west on 495 from Georgia Ave., you come to [this overpass](https://www.google.com/search?q=surrender+dorothy+mormon+temple&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwinxcOcmtPrAhVE1VkKHcvKBuUQ_AUoAXoECBYQAw&biw=1525&bih=856) that has a wonderful view of the Mormon Temple behind it. Guess what keeps getting spray-painted on the bridge?

I’ve seen that!

> [@peccavi](#):
>
> …So I wanted something short, easily typed, but clever. “Peccavi” is an obscure word with a clever meaning for a user name, and it is the source of one of the cleverest historical puns (even though the legend and the reality conflict, I prefer the legend)…

As someone who’s read a lot about the British Empire, I got it, and like it.

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**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/124 "2020-09-06T02:48:57Z")

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My username is an amalgamation of the Five Particulate Philosophies:

- Ka: Egyptian notion that the soul is the kernel of a person
- Ren: “Benevolence”, one of the tenets of Confucianism
- Li: The “reason” component of Buddhism
- Ng: Vietnamese philosophy that there is a grain of evil in all of us
- El: The Danish theory that people consist of two opposing poles.

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/125 "2020-09-06T02:57:50Z")

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I used CairoCarol here because I was already using it for a word game I was playing on line at the time. It was a little bit of a nod to [K’tut Tantri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27tut_Tantri) who was also known as Surabaya Sue when she was a radio announcer for Radio Indonesia during WWII. Her autobiography, “Revolt in Paradise”, tells a rather astonishing tale of her decision to move to Bali, her adoption by a family there, her friendships with artists like Walter Spies, and her imprisonment by the Japanese. It’s generally believed that she, ah, shall we say…elaborated a bit.

But it’s also true that my name IRL is Carol, and I was living in Cairo, Egypt at the time, so it was an obvious and rather unoriginal choice (if you Google CairoCarol it seems that every person named Carol who ever visited Cairo adopts that as a user name at some point, usually to post vacation photos on line).

All I can say is I’d recently read both “Revolt in Paradise” and author Timothy Lindsay’s “The Romance of K’tut Tantri and Indonesia,” the latter being a reasonably kind take-down of some of her more extravagant claims and a fine analysis of how Westerners romanticized Bali and the affect they had on the local culture. So I really was making an allusion, not just being bland.

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**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/126 "2020-09-06T03:24:04Z")

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That. Is. Cool!

You don’t think those guys sneak out there and re-paint when it fades/gets painted over?

As it is, I’d bet that side of the bridge is 2 feet thicker than the other side. 😉

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/127 "2020-09-06T03:47:34Z")

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Booze.

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**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/128 "2020-09-06T04:47:30Z")

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In the Genesis song “Supper’s Ready,” the Antichrist is referred to as The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man. When I signed up, I didn’t want such a long username. My thinking, at the time, was that I wouldn’t want to have to type all that out every time I logged in. So I shortened it up. Had I known I’d stay logged in for years at a time, I would’ve gone with the full version.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/129 "2020-09-06T05:52:15Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Booze

Didn’t we vote for your name?

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**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/130 "2020-09-06T06:00:05Z")

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It’s from the movie and character with that name. I like Steve McQueen, I like cars, I used to live in San Francisco, the famous movie chase scene ended on nearby San Bruno Mountain on Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, and Steve McQueen was a Marine and so was I. So yeah, Bullitt.

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**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/131 "2020-09-06T07:18:33Z")

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Am I the only one whose username is the same as his pet?

Chappachula (of saintly memory, mayest thou purr in peace) was a wonderful cat.

And she loved typing on those older keyboards with the click-clack sound…  
But I had to help her with the spelling.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/132 "2020-09-06T07:18:38Z")

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[quote=“Alessan, post:129, topic:919810”]  
Didn’t we vote for your name ?  
[/quote]Yep…because I was halfway through a bottle of Tully when I came up with that “Let’s Rename The Moderator” contest.

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**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/133 "2020-09-06T07:43:40Z")

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No clue. Possibly resulting from some kind of residual fallout from brief psychotic break / delusional, high-volume mouthfrothing / Munch-like despair.

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**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/134 "2020-09-06T08:53:11Z")

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I was writing an epic fantasy novel in high school, and the meathead character’s name was Krondys. The writing went nowhere, but it has been my internet name for 20+ years, though most people shorten it to “Kron” in speech… so I shortened it after the move to Discourse.

Though really, I too am **snfaulkner** …

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/135 "2020-09-06T09:36:08Z")

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I’d been using the same name online for a long time, one that I found that was never taken anywhere. But I started to see the possible folly in having the same name in so many places. So I decided to try something new.

I wanted something that felt like my name, so I chose a nickname I had. But T was too short. I seem to remember you needed four letters minimum. So I added the word big to it, since I’m a big/tall guy. Went with camel case because I’ve always liked it.

Way too much thought for such a simple name, huh?

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**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/136 "2020-09-06T10:44:41Z")

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**mandala** is a set of geometric symbols having deep connections to Hindu and Buddhist spirituality. Most Hindu and Buddhist gods and goddesses have their mandalas, and these are used for ritual worship and as objects of meditation. (A famous and ancient one is the [Sri Chakra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri_Yantra).) In Hindu metaphysics, mandalas are used to represent the properties of [chakras](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra#The_seven_chakra_system) too.

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**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/137 "2020-09-06T11:04:38Z")

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> [@Kron](#):
>
> I was writing an epic fantasy novel in high school, and the meathead character’s name was Krondys. The writing went nowhere, but it has been my internet name for 20+ years, though most people shorten it to “Kron” in speech… so I shortened it after the move to Discourse.

KRON channel 4 is a local San Francisco TV station.

> [@Kron](#):
>
> Though really, I too am **snfaulkner** …

Oh yeah, that was a thing awhile back. I remember now.

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**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/138 "2020-09-06T11:48:48Z")

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My nickname my parents gave me,

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**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:** [September 6, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/139 "2020-09-06T12:45:36Z")

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We once had an entmoot here to call forward all the die-hard Middle Earth fans, perhaps we should also have a Council of Boskone, though I never liked that as much as Boskone is of course the villains. Maybe a “Journey to Arisa”.

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**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/140 "2020-09-06T19:13:27Z")

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‘Even the man who is on the whole not very eminent can produce a beautiful song.’

- Schopenhauer

You had me intrigued, so I looked it up. Indeed very clever and you live up to _all_ the varied, august definitions.

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**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/141 "2020-09-06T19:15:24Z")

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> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#):
>
> You had me intrigued, so I looked it up. Indeed very clever and you live up to _all_ the varied, august definitions.

As do we all.

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