What's in a [user]name?

[Spider]

Hard to believe we haven't started this thread already.... (If we did I missed it).

Some of our usernames are pretty easy to figure out, but some might have a different meaning (or pronunciation) than someone else might think. So what does your username mean, or how did you come up with it?

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Mine's pretty simple. My callsign in the Air Force was Spider-Man. It was given to me because I keep tarantulas as pets, and I used to keep a couple of them on my desk at work. It eventually got shortened and folks at my last duty station just called me Spider.

My username everywhere else on the web is TheVez2, simply because my Dad's nickname was The Vez, due to our last name. But when we started up at The Cadre, I wanted a change. So the Spider was re-born.

 

[PaulTU]

My user name IS my name.

 

[Spider]

My user name IS my name.

TU is your last name? Or is that middle and last initial?

 

[NurseDave]

TU is your last name? Or is that middle and last initial?

Rules for Capitalization

The capitalization of a word (meaning its first letter is in the upper case) often depends upon its context and placement within a sentence.

www.thefreedictionary.com

 

[Spider]

Rules for Capitalization

The capitalization of a word (meaning its first letter is in the upper case) often depends upon its context and placement within a sentence.

www.thefreedictionary.com

You trying to imply that everyone's username complies with capitalization rules? How many of them start with a lowercase letter?

 

[NurseDave]

How many of them start with a lowercase letter?

I don't know. How many?

 

[PaulTU]

TU is your last name? Or is that middle and last initial?

Oh wow....forgot the name I used TU is part of my last name.

 

[woodpusher]

Mine is pretty self-explanatory and accurate.

 

[August West]

The protagonist in the Grateful Dead tune “Wharf Rat”.

 

[Luecke3262]

Simply my last name which doubled as my nickname in college and among most of my friends. 3262 is part of a number which I have loved for many years. The last 4 numbers of my childhood phone number.

 

[Spider]

3262 is part of a number which I have loved for many years. The last 4 numbers of my childhood phone number.

Also your bank pin… noted!

 

[heysi]

Those of you that are playing TMI Trivia Bingo already know these answers but for those that don't.....

Back in high school, a friend of mine in our large group of friends was a note writer. She would write notes to people and pass them to us between classes. You would then be tasked with reading the note and responding to the note and passing it back to her or along to someone she designated at the bottom of the note. (it really was the analog version of text messaging). But for all of her prolific-ness, she was a terrible speller. And when ever she would write a word that she didn’t know how to spell she would write (How ever you spell it) after the word. Eventually the entire note would be filled with (how ever you spell it) so I told her to just write (heysi)….which of course…stands for How Ever You Spell It. After that, I obtained the nickname Heysi and since I invented the word…I got to decide how it is pronounced (one of the advantages of being the first one to create a word). And I say it as Hey-sigh.

 

[August West]

Those of you that are playing TMI Trivia Bingo already know these answers but for those that don't.....

Back in high school, a friend of mine in our large group of friends was a note writer. She would write notes to people and pass them to us between classes. You would then be tasked with reading the note and responding to the note and passing it back to her or along to someone she designated at the bottom of the note. (it really was the analog version of text messaging). But for all of her prolific-ness, she was a terrible speller. And when ever she would write a word that she didn’t know how to spell she would write (How ever you spell it) after the word. Eventually the entire note would be filled with (how ever you spell it) so I told her to just write (heysi)….which of course…stands for How Ever You Spell It. After that, I obtained the nickname Heysi and since I invented the word…I got to decide how it is pronounced (one of the advantages of being the first one to create a word). And I say it as Hey-sigh.

I luv it. Heysi

 

[Bill M]

Rules for Capitalization

The capitalization of a word (meaning its first letter is in the upper case) often depends upon its context and placement within a sentence.

www.thefreedictionary.com

Long before the digital age I was formally trained in the art of typography using moveable type, then spent my entire working career in some area of the printing business.

I blame my Irish teacher, Mr O’Reilly for the creation of my pet peeve of the term “upper case”, by the threat of failure to those who would dare to use such terminology. There really is no such thing as “upper case”.

Most late compositors work stations at the beginning of the photographic and digital ages did not even have type case positions of upper and lower but came to favor the hugely popular California Job Case where jibberish such as “be careful driving elephants into small foreign garages” were used as training aids.



The European origin of the use for the term “lower case” came from the use of older compositor work stations and type banks where small letters were in a lower more accessible position. The upper position was for the capital letters (caps) AND a commonly used “small caps” whose dimensions were more like the small letters found in the “lower case”.

The saving grace for my sanity is that the designers of typewriter keyboards labeled that one key in the center left as “caps lock” and not “upper case lock”.

While an upper case did exist in typography, the follow up question to the specification of “upper case”, would have been, do you want “caps, small caps or capitalization of small caps”

I have recollection of a trade show where an older gent I knew was costumed as Ben Franklin and displaying the use if his private collection of well preserved ancient and operational typecasting equipment using a molten lead- tin alloy. He was also printing and handling out one at a time examples printed right there on a manual press from the era.

It would have been nice to have had a video of this unique museum worthy display. I have no idea what actually happened to the collection of Bruno Woernle but I likely would have included ink from a company I worked for.

Sorry for the rant, upper case always triggers me.

 

[NurseDave]

Sorry for the rant, upper case always triggers me.

I feel the same way, Bill.

 

[Bill M]

I feel the same way, Bill.

As long as we ban the use of that terminology for Vegas, I can get by without that extra suitcase more my meds.

 

[NurseDave]

As long as we ban the use of that terminology for Vegas, I can get by without that extra suitcase more my meds.

Two or one spaces after a period. Please discuss.

 

[Scuttlesoap]

Mine comes from a time when I was a newbie in the hobby and I was signing up for one of those amalgamator apps that sign into multiple sites at once. I couldn’t think of anything cute - I had just bought my first scuttle - and I think the username scuttle was already taken - so just added soap to the name. As Nurse Dave points out - doesn’t make sense - it should have been Scuttle Lather, or Scuttle Water, or Scuttle Scum - or something like that - I wasn’t too creative


Ironically - I still only own the one scuttle as I face lather the majority of the time time. Go figure.

 

[Bill M]

Two or one spaces after a period. Please discuss.

2, unless type is justified, in which case spacing is variable.

 

[Scuttlesoap]

2, unless type is justified, in which case spacing is variable.

Agree two. And Oxford commas are to be used as well.