BS: Why nick-names online?

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 10:04 PM

Robin was originally a male name - being a centuries old French Diminuitive of Robert. Certain 'poseuers' thought it would be clever to spell it 'Robyn' for a female name, and some couldn't spell very well, so Robin began to be used for females...

If you want to know why I chose my Mudcat handle - go to my Mudcat Personal Page and follow the link to The Fooles Troupe website...

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Gurney
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 01:53 AM

JohniK, I had a customer once whose name was John Mary (something).

Her dad was drunk when he registered her, and the Registrar wouldn't alter the certificate, except from M to F. He did unbend enough to add the Mary underneath the John. She was quite proud of it, and showed me the birth certificate.

John and Mary. Not an imaginative man.

This was in England, in case anyone should think only Americans were barmy.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 10:19 PM

Where else you gonna nick'm?

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 02:00 PM

Nothing's really safe re the male/female/ambiguous/other divide.

The "howmanyofme" site says that only 99.63% of persons named "John" are male.

John (m.)

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Scoville
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 10:11 AM

(I just said this on another thread. Sorry.)

My real name is too distinctive. Nobody needs to be able to find out that much about me in a single Google search. Also, I don't like it all that well and it brings up too many questions about pronunciation, spelling, meaning, etc. It's easier to pick something else.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Mickey191
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 09:57 AM

I think Bill D. had a great idea inre. to identifying the sex of a poster. If your name is Gwendolyn, for the most part, we can safely assume female. Don't know too many females named Johnathon or Arnold.

Mickey was given to me around age 2 and no one calls me Margaret Mary. That nickname has caused confusion here. Mickey191-f might help to unconfuse the confused.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Becca72
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 09:17 AM

Well, Becca is the nickname my family uses for me and 72 is the year in which I was born. Not a really big stretch of the imagination.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Crane Driver
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 08:07 AM

Well, Crane Driver IS my own name (no-one else can use it here) so I'm being just as honest. I've never made any secret of the fact that 'Crane Driver' is Andrew McKay from Gower in South Wales, but since very few people outside of Mudcat have ever heard of me under either name, what does it matter? I use a name I chose myself rather than the one my parents chose.

Why? I liked the 'feel' of the place, with so many idiosyncratic names about, rather than the fairly limited choice of names most of us are stuck with outside. I like puns and word-play, so I thought I'd join in.

Personally, I don't get so upset about what people post here that I'd want to administer 'social retribution' - I'm certainly not going to fly to Canada to smack ClintonHammond in the mouth for anything, so knowing his 'real' name makes no odds there. If I did want to take a point up with him privately, I could PM him whatever name he was using. That's the real point - I have to stand by whatever 'Crane Driver' posts just as much as I'd have to stand by whatever 'Andrew McKay' posted if I used that name. So, it's just as 'real' a name.

Andrew

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,Bruce Michael Baillie
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 06:59 AM

...Well I ALWAYS use my own name because I think it's far more honest!

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Blowzabella
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 05:32 AM

I use a nickname because I am of the opinion that there are many more people who read this forum than post to it and I sometimes want to say things on here somewhat anonymously - ie slag off my employer. I work for a large organisation and I have no idea whether any, none or several of the rest of the workforce ever read this. However, because of the job I do - which gets sort of mentioned on here fairly regularly - I am kind of known within the team. Let's just say, my life can be difficult enough without my bosses finding out some of the things I have said on here!

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: nickp
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 04:51 AM

But Nick IS my name.......



(the p is the first letter of my surname)

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 04:38 AM

This Site Says:

There are 4,960,193 people in the U.S. with my first name.

There are 704,066 people in the U.S. with my last name.

There are 11,557 people in the U.S. using both my first and last name.

(I think they underestimate that last number, as I have that many relatives using the same first and last name.)

The last time I ran a google on it, there were only 3 separate users of JohnInKansas, and the other two appeared only briefly and incidentally.

Now which is the better way to identify myself to my friends here, for the purposes of this site?

John

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Gurney
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 04:22 AM

I use a pen-name because almost everyone else does. The reason they do is that there are some very strange people out there in eLand, and no-one wants to get on their shit-list. When I first went on-line, I wondered what the hell I'd got myself into.   It turned out OK, because I mostly only go to here, nowadays, and this is no worse than a family.

It is significant that the moderation here is seldom visible, despite allowing Guests to post.

'Gurney' is a childhood nickname, given me from an old television programme, 'Gurney Slade.' Nothing to do with gurneys, which may be an American term.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Jim Lad
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 03:47 AM

No: He doesn't live here any more and I don't know how to reach him. Please don't call again.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,Big Mean Credit Collector
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 03:41 AM

Um, did they come back when I wasn't watching?

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,Someone else
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 02:27 PM

He just left. To get his wallet. Wait here, I'll go get him.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,Big Mean Credit Collector
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 02:01 PM

I've found you Deep Cover. We would greatly appreciatiate the amounts owing. Now.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,Deep Cover
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 01:53 PM

I find it easier to avoid creditors if I used a handle.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,Avid Reader
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 01:56 AM

"The world has very few Charmions and the name is not obviously female to North Americans who are not intimately familiar with the plays of Shakespere, so I am simultaneously both distinctive and fairly anonymous."

Verbose too

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 06:57 PM

If I remember correctly...

When I first found Mudcat, I think what happened was someone reckoned I would never be able to spell Bunnahabhain without a run up, and a bottle of it in the room somewhere. This may be connected to the bottle of it glasses at the time, but don't quote me, I am often wrong, I think.

james

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: jacqui.c
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 12:07 PM

When I first came to Mudcat I really just couldn't think of a nickname that would suit me better than my christian name and the first letter of my surname. Although I have remarried and the surname has changed I will keep to jacqui.c here because that is now my identity as a Mudcatter.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,jts
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 11:38 AM

ClintonHammond wrote: ...people are SUPPOSED to critisie others when they're being stupid...


Can you imagine what Clinton's life would be like if everyone did [critcize] every stupid thing that was said?

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 11:32 AM

ClintonHammond wrote: ...people are SUPPOSED to critisie others when they're being stupid...

Assuming you meant "criticize", sez who? Kindness and politeness are also valid options, and they are both fully available to everyone who posts here.

As it happens, I do use my real Christian name, assigned at the font and everything. The world has very few Charmions and the name is not obviously female to North Americans who are not intimately familiar with the plays of Shakespere, so I am simultaneously both distinctive and fairly anonymous. While parading around in the great mystery of the Internet, that's how I like to be.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: number 6
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:14 PM

Just call me 6 ... I live in Saint John New Brunswick ... it doesn't really matter since no here knows or cares where the hell Saint John is , and whether I'm Noel, Bob, Bill, Arnold, Alastair, Nathan, Phillip, Saul, Yoshi, .....

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: artbrooks
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 07:07 PM

This is my real name (Actually, my given name is Arthur, so I guess that this is a nickname). I live in Albuquerque. I am in the phone book.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Grab
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 12:52 PM

It's quicker to type when you need to login...

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: number 6
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:36 AM

Number 6 .... well why not. Does it really matter. After all, aren't we all just an ip address, or a 'number' here.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:32 AM

" I don't see that it matters whether I was know as Homeless or Rob Frumderich"

It doesn't... I'm just curious why it seems most people online are more likely to use a nick-name than their own name....

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,bbc"f" at work (for Bill)
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:25 AM

Mudcat was my 1st Internet contact w/ other folks. Being anonymous seemed wise. Like Spaw (who I call Pat, by the way), everyone now knows me as bbc. It's short, sweet, & comes from my initials. BTW, folks, it is written w/ lower case letters. I'm not into competition. Through the years, I have scattered information about myself all over the Mudcat pages, including the member pages, for those who care to look.

best,

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Homeless
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:59 AM

When I first stumbled across the 'cat I was in the process of separating my life from that of an emotionally unstable SO. So I felt I had reason to make it a little tougher to find me. Granted, no one is anonymous on the net, but keeping an alias and your real name completely dissociated will make it a little more difficult to find you via forum postings.
I lurked for a few days before deciding to become a member, and so had time to think of what handle I wanted. At the time, Homeless rather described my life. Not just my condition of shelter, but my life. If home is where the heart is, I was always a wanderer. I never fit well in any group, clique, or stereotype. I've always been viewed, and view myself, as an outsider, so Homeless seemed the most accurate
description in a word.
By my reckoning, it doesn't matter if you use a handle or real name, as long as you pick something to use consistantly. When I was posting regularly, the people here knew who I was and what I was like. I don't see that it matters whether I was know as Homeless or Rob Frumderich. A rose by any other name, and all that happy horsepuckey. What drives me nuts are the people who use multiple names, concurrently or consecutively.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Emma B
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 07:22 AM

My "given name" is a little long and someone else already had my initials.
I think I may have chosen a "nick-name" however as it can be much more informal and can minimise assumptions about background, culture etc. for example if my name was Ying Zipeng or Mhuire O'Suilleabhain.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,Cluin
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 04:42 AM

To be unique. There's too many other Rick Deeveys out there.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: robomatic
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 12:32 AM

My nomme de plume electronique is used by me through much of the web and was my DJ name when I was briefly on the air to my two and a half listeners on late Thursday nights and early Friday mornings.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 10:28 PM

You will always be BillDee in my mind, BillD! Or, if you insist, an acronym for the above: EWCMLMDDO!

Women feel safer, I believe, using a nickname.

kat, real name

Subject: RE: BS: Why Nuke Gnomes Online?
From: Severn
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 09:30 PM

However, amazingly enough, we can still continue to rightfully talk about harvesters and identity theft here without it being enough thread drift to even warrant changing the Subject Line as far as....

Why Are Our Names Being Nicked Online?

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: GUEST,Cudmat
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 09:29 PM

Are Clinton Hammond and Richard Bridge noms des plumes for the same personality disorder?

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 09:21 PM

Hi Bert.

Not, in my experience, if they are punished sufficiently.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do nick-names online?
From: Severn
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 09:17 PM

My given name was plenty unique enough for me to risk the chance being confused with all the other Severns in here, so I choose to use it. That said, I will always have to continually let people know in a printed word situation that, YES, I AM male and NO I WASN'T named after either of the rivers (being a lifelong Marylander who chats with Brits online, it comes up a lot), but rather, named after my Great Grandfather.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Bert
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:20 PM

I know Bill, I was just giving you a hard time. *GRIN*

Richard - Rude children will keep seeking attention as long as they are getting it.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Tootler
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:07 PM

I had been using a "Fred327" type name until I found my particular "Fred327" had already been taken on Ebay. my second choice was also taken, so I ended up with anoter "Fred327" name on Ebay but was not happy with it, so when I signed up for Mudcat I decided on something else. Since my wife refers to my recorder playing as "Tootling", I chose Tootler. I have since used Tootler for other music forums I have signed up to.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Bill D
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:04 PM

Bert....my last name is Day. It has been posted before, but I just thought I'd leave it short and not distracting. And, as I have posted before, Bill D is a LOT less distracting than B. Day. Think about it.

(oh, and my middle name is "Martin"...I sure am glad I hadn't been using that!)

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:18 PM

I thnk there is merit in using real names so that posters run the risk of normal social retribution for their comments - it might help keep some people less obnoxious. Perhaps someone should have a personal word with Clinton Hammond (if that is his real name). Rude children will not learn manners without correction.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 05:07 PM

There couldn't have been a hockey game on. lol

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 05:03 PM

A Mudcat review of my performance
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=56622&messages=17

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 04:57 PM

Clinton's real name that is.

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 04:55 PM

From having seen him perform, It seems that his real name is "Shut the hell up and turn on the sound for the hockey." :D

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 04:54 PM

"Just my personal speculation"

Interesting Dave!

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 04:52 PM

As for me, I was at first doesterr, (D as in David, OESTERR as in Oesterreich), just because the computer net at work had assigned that to me. I used that name here for convenience, and used it at HearMe for the same reason.

After HearMe gave out I went to PalTalk. After using doesterr a while I had some problems and I had to re-register, and Paltalk told me that "doesterr" was already in use by "someone else", so I couldn't have that name.

I had already begun using Uncle DaveO as a stage name when I performed, (to avoid confusing potential audiences with my real last name), so I adopted that at PalTalk. "Okay, then let's use Uncle DaveO at Mudcat too, since there's an overlap of populations." And I did.

No fraud, no deceit, no confusion, Clinton, nor fear. I ALMOST always sign my posts with my real name, which is, really and truly,

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 04:43 PM

Just my personal speculation, although I think it fits the history:

Remember CB radio? EVERYbody on CB had to have "a handle". (How THAT started, Clinton, I don't know and don't care mightily, although it just might have come as a transplant from ham radio.)

When the net and the web came along, I think the same people who had been CBers became denizens of the new medium(s), and brought that in-group habit with them.

After that, it's tradition, self-sustaining.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Why nick-names online?
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 04:38 PM

Well, originally, I got into the habit of using nicknames when I used to chat on IRC, back in the mid-90s. Never anything based on my real name, as my real name (Will Anderson) is horribly generic and boring. I've never been fond of my first name, and my last name is a lame, meaningless, patronymic fossil. (Nothing against my great-great-great-grandfather Anders. I'm sure he was lovely. But the dude's been dead for one hundred and thirty fucking years, already) Also, I find it easier to remember people by their colourful nicknames than by their real, dull, every day names. This could just be because I'm "bad with names." But, especially with common names like John, Sarah, Mary, Peter, Steve, Bill, etc., without a face, they all just meld into one person for me. And adding the initial letter of the surname to the nickname just makes it sound like pre-school, IMO. I try to give others something a bit more memorable to work with than "WillA." I know, I'm incredibly considerate. You're welcome.

Anyways, using nicknames just sort of crossed over with me from IRC into other sorts of online communications, forums, etc. And, as the years have passed, I've stuck with "Lepus Rex" mainly because it ties together most of my online activity from the late 90s (when I started using the name exclusively) to the present. I'll often use my real name alongside or instead of "Lepus Rex," especially when conversing with people I know in the flesh. But, like I said, I like to tie it all together. So people know that asshole Lepus Rex who used to post on the Mudcat Forum is the same asshole who used to bitch about Sergei Bodrov on the IMDB forums. Or whatever.

Jesus, I've given this far too much thought.

---Lepus Rex