# What is the origin of your SDMB screen name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131 "2024-08-02T02:17:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/161 "2024-08-04T20:04:37Z")
Three reasons for mine - I own a LOT of books (close to 7,000), spent most of my working life as a accountant, and am something of an odd word nerd and “bookkeeper” is, as far as I know, the only English word with three double letters in a row. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/162 "2024-08-04T20:30:47Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Obscure’? Nay! It was _A Bucket Of Blood_ by the late, great, Roger Corman and starring Dick Miller! Thanks for the reminder! Some day I may get round to watching it. > [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Every time I see your user name I think of the financial term Oh yes, I forgot to mention that. Funnily enough, I work in that industry, but chose my username long before I knew of that term. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/163 "2024-08-04T21:41:04Z")
I never knew that the word was used by anybody else but Walt Kelly in the _Pogo_ strip. > **Barnstable Bear** : A simple-minded, henpecked “grizzle bear” who often plays second fiddle to Albert’s plots. He wears a pair of pants held up with a single suspender, and often a checkered cloth cap. Frequently short-tempered (and married to an even shorter-tempered “missus”, the formidable **Miz Bear** ), he bellows _“Rowrbazzle!”_ when his anger comes to a boil. ---
**Author:** ![Hurrilon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@Hurrilon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hurrilon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/164 "2024-08-04T22:23:12Z")
Character name from an online game ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/165 "2024-08-04T23:20:42Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > I am not nearly as good looking as @TriPolar though, who by handle looks like me, but IRL he rivals Schwarzenegger in both body build, wit, and wealth. Good to hear from you Trips! It’s been a long time since I could claim suave. Time has eroded my physical being, and given a jagged edge to my wit. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/166 "2024-08-04T23:45:21Z")
Let’s see whether this will correctly link to the explanation I gave in the older thread. – not only did it work, according to the preview, but it looks like much (not all) of the explanation shows up in this window. ETA: in the other thread there was some discussion. I meant black locust, not honey locust. In other words: definitely thorny, but not _that_ thorny. > [@What is the origin of your SDMB name?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-name/919810/145): > > Thorny locust is a tree. It’s a very stubborn sort of tree; once it gets its roots down somewhere, it’s really hard to get rid of. It’s definitely a member of an invasive species. And it’s thorny. A lot of people don’t like it. It also makes fantastic fence posts; untreated wood lasts many years even in wet ground. And it makes extremely good firewood; will keep you warm all night and all winter. And it’s arguably a nitrogen fixer, feeding other plants around it. So: not to everybody’s taste.… ---
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/167 "2024-08-05T00:08:53Z")
Mine is from the “Beer Barrel Polka”. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/168 "2024-08-05T01:43:50Z")
Back in the early 80s a neighbor of mine invited me on a camping trip/party weekend. Sitting around the campfire the first night, a coquettish young lady took notice of the hair on my arms and said something to the effect of “my, aren’t you the blondest bear ever?” Thus my camping nickname became blondbear forever more. (the “e” in the middle of my user name is due to a typo when I registered) ---
**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:** [August 5, 2024, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/169 "2024-08-05T04:29:58Z")
My user name 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 poles. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/170 "2024-08-05T06:40:32Z")
When I first signed up I lived in Princhester St, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Which is a fairly dull backstory. What is slightly more interesting is that due to having somewhat randomly adopted Princhester as my online handle, I then tried but utterly failed to determine the derivation of the streetname “Princhester”. At first glance it would seem a no brainer that it derives from an English placename. It’s in a block of streets named after English and European places. English placenames with the \*chester" suffix are commonplace (Leicester, Chester, Bicester, Cirencester, Caister, Colchester, Gloucester, Manchester, Tadcaster and Winchester etc). Yet google finds no such English placename whatsoever. It’s the name of highly obscure locations in central Queensland, and in New Zealand but I would have thought they themselves derived their names from a place in England and are unlikely to be the source of the streetname. There is a book by HG Wells which features a “Bishop of Princhester” but the book post-dates the street. I can only assume it was a placename in England that was thoroughly wiped from history. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/171 "2024-08-05T10:30:28Z")
This reminded me of the circa-1979 _Book of Lists_ entry of “fake names schoolkids can give to a substitute teacher” – e.g., the Dover twins, Ben and Eileen. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/172 "2024-08-05T10:57:32Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Three reasons for mine - I own a LOT of books (close to 7,000), spent most of my working life as a accountant, and am something of an odd word nerd and “bookkeeper” is, as far as I know, the only English word with three double letters in a row. pitty you aren´t from **Mississippi** … that would have been a hoot * * * The history of my handle is quite boring AL (first 2 letters of Albert ) … nothing to do with Art.Intelligence - as some might think … and the 128 is just a number, as Al1 or Al2 was taken and I didn´t have the pacience to test further … so again, boring and impacient … fits me well 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/173 "2024-08-05T11:12:54Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Thus my camping nickname became blondbear forever more. (the “e” in the middle of my user name is due to a typo when I registered) “Blonde” is a perfectly acceptable spelling, of course. It tends to be used more where British spelling is the norm; “blond” is more common in American spelling, but I see both variants all over the place. In fact, the American film _Legally Blonde_ is an example of how the “e” form is common in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/174 "2024-08-05T11:38:19Z")
Actually, it’s my understanding that in standard British English, we preserve the French convention and use blond for males, blonde for females. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/175 "2024-08-05T14:23:08Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Actually, it’s my understanding that in standard British English, we preserve the French convention and use blond for males, blonde for females.   You’re absolutely right, and since that’s quite common usage, that’s a more useful observation than mine. Still, if I may slightly nitpick, it’s more a matter of tradition than one of grammatical correctness (English hasn’t had grammatical gender rules for 800 years). Depending on regional and stylistic preferences, both American and British English can use either form regardless of gender. For example, **[this how-to guide on writing](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-life-hacks/writing/blonde-vs-blond-difference)** from an American perspective gives the history of the word’s appropriation from the French, but then concludes: > American English uses blond as the preferred spelling whereas British English prefers blonde no matter the perceived gender of the noun. **[The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/blonde_1)** makes a similar observation from a British perspective. Frankly I think it’s a bit of a stretch as I think most writers follow the gender tradition for blond/blonde and I just never noticed! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/176 "2024-08-05T14:42:53Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Actually, it’s my understanding that in standard British English, we preserve the French convention and use blond for males, blonde for females. In much American English, as well. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/177 "2024-08-05T15:26:40Z")
Agree w @thorny_locust: it’s one of the few gender-conjugated adjectives in US English. I’m blond that’s now mostly gray. My GF is blonde. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/178 "2024-08-05T16:07:45Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > This reminded me of the circa-1979 _Book of Lists_ entry of “fake names schoolkids can give to a substitute teacher” – e.g., the Dover twins, Ben and Eileen. And the King brothers: Nopar and Nosmo. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/179 "2024-08-05T16:08:20Z")
I briefly worked at a Ace Hardware store one summer in high school. We custom cut plate glass, wood, and pipe for customers. Mixed paint and stocked shelves. Helped customers carry out and load their trucks. I worked construction summers during college. Back then hanging out and talking at the hardware store was a good way to find work. I still enjoy local hardware stores and talking with the staff. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/180 "2024-08-05T16:20:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I briefly worked at a Ace Hardware store Never woulda guessed that. At one point my gf worked on their advertising! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131.md?page=10)