Not long after I joined AWAD in Nov. 2000, we had a thread about the meaning of our user names (monikers) - Now there's an old word I like and it's listed in the OED!
Anyway - since we have so many new members and strangers dropping in - I thought if might be fun to do it again for their benefit. (Welcome all, delighted to have you here)
In the old thread many guessed that wow was wise old woman but the secret is to turn it up side down !
So wot's yer moniker mean?
And, if you care to say, why did you choose it?
My grandson, when he was younger, couldn't say the wonderful name a friend had given me when she heard my daughter was pregnant: Grandmeow. For most of my life, and according to a very old Dennis the Menace cartoon, "meow can mean ANYTHING, like 'aloha' and 'shalom'". It has been an integral and important part of my vocabulary since I've been a small child. Therefore....
http://geocities.com/elbillaf/fallible_nick.htmlIt's the title of a book by L. Sprague DeCamp. My original net moniker (more than 20 years ago) was "zdim." (At net parties, people always called each other by their handles, btw, so there are people who still only know me as "zdim".) It's not Tolstoy, but I became enamored with the character. Soon I switched to the usual moniker.
I've used others. On undernet, I'm TheFiend. On playsite I'm lemniscate. Usually this is because of some limitation on the name length. Many years ago, on the Bitnet Relays I sometimes went by OmarKhayyam, MarkTwain, or AnaisNin. But that wasn't too frequent. 99% of the time, regardless of the forum, I use the TFF name. I'm just accustomed to it now.
k
Helen (of troy)
(i'll leave it up to you to decide how many mili helens i have.)
to decide how many mili helens i have
Interesting unit of measurement. Do you rate one millihelene for each ship your face has launched?
My first name's James, and it's a very common one. So, I chose Jheem because it looks Indic, but it isn't. When I first chose it, I was sure it didn't exist. Though I have noticed one other guy on the Web who's using it, and he is from the subcontinent. Th letter {jh} is rather rare in the Devanagri syllabary, so that's another plus.
I just used a random letter generator and sorta liked what it threw out.
how many millihelens
And does the sign change based on the direction the ships go?
The dictionary meaning of Faldage leads only peripherally to an understanding of why I use it.
How about some posts from the Strangers and Newcomers?
how many millihelens
And does the sign change based on the direction the ships go?
you mean from east to west? or launched and promptly to the bottom of the sea? i suspect on the latter, i would rate more than a few milihelens!
Funny you should mentio that. There was a such an ill-fated ship during WW II. An LST built in St. Louis was launched and sank immediately. They raised her, fixed the hole in her hull, and sent her down the ways again, with the same result. This time it was an open sea cock. The third time someone had left the ramp unsecured. The fourth time a freak wave capsized her.
In fact, she sank so many times that she became known as the ship that faced a thousand launches.
So what was the final outcome TEd, sink or sail?
Well, my original moniker was Capital Kiwi. At the time it was a kind of a pun, because I was living in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Then I shifted to England, and it seemed kinda arrogant to continue with that. So I came up with an amalgam of that plus a reference to a great writer, which I aint ... the rest is not history.
you mean from east to west? or launched and promptly to the bottom of the sea?
I mean towards or away from the face.
oh, you mean like the limerick
For beauty i am no star,
There are others more handsome by far,
but, my face, i don't mind it
For i am behind it,
It's people in front that i jar!
and someone is going to look it up, make minor corrections, and note the author (not me!), etc., etc..
In a manner almost, but not quite entirely unlike Capfka's, my original moniker reflected my love of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. My current moniker actually starts with my RL monogram, and incoroporates the original Guide reference. Bonus points for any who correctly identify the quote from the HHG in this post.
Care for a cup of tea, Max?
Don't mind if I do. Well done.
I like owls. I'm not specifically superstitious, (nor generally rational for that matter), but at several important junctures of my life, there have been talkative owls nearby, often Barred Owls. I sometimes fancy that they are trying to instruct me, (no, not like the arffing Son of Sam) to be less blatantly foolish. I have a predilection for predicting rainbows, (not a very difficult skill to master), (in addition to an obvious propensity for the parenthetical), and I thought that in the far far distant future, “Rainbow Predictor”, might be a nice epitaph or inscription for my former me’s owl-shaped ash urn. The moniker has nothing to do with pasta, the owl says. My dogs are not so sure.
For a bit of history:
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=miscellany&Number=499Look at that three digit number!!!
... and then there's this one...
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=64329I mention in the above thread that I made some description in an earlier post... looked for it, yet couldn't find it.
In law school, we were given pseudonyms to ensure that our exams were marked anonymously. First year students were plants, second years were birds, and third years were mammals. I liked my first year pseudonym: boronia, a flower of some kind. It sounded to me like a Hungarian princess.
well, I wanted something to do with words and/or letters, and I remembered etaoin shrdlu... at the time, I was only thinking of the alphabetic frequency idea of the letters, and should have known of the Linotype connection, but no...
I think I tried something else before I hit on etaoin, actually, but it had already been taken. what that was, I have no idea...
Hello Owlbow and welcome to our happy group.
The owl is the symbol of the goddess Minerva aka Athena. "Minerva is goddess of the arts, professions and handicrafts. Her cult was believed to have originated in Eturia." (The American Desk Encyclopedia)
I see owls when I travel. They are believed to be carriers of omens by Hawaiians. Does this mean we are related?
PS Edit : In Hawaiian the word for owl is pueo (poo-ay-oh)
if you need a similar moniker sometime.
They are believed to be carriers of omens by Hawaiians
They're carriers of letters in the Harry Potter books, she added helpfully.
I like owls.
I thought it was a comment on the Ox-Bow Incident at Owl Creek Bridge. Or for our quatorze juilletiers, La Rivière du hibou. Uhu, who?
Hello wow,
It’s good to be back. I was a frequent reader, but very infrequent contributor to these discussions from 9/03 to 12/03. I visit here on breaks and lunch while at work. I left for a “better” job, but alas, there were no owls there, and I got the opportunity to come back here to the old workplace with improved compensation and I’m very glad I did. Same company, same dept. (QC) but a different job – busier and somewhat more interesting – this suits me. Thanks for the welcome
Minerva sounds like my kinda woman. Thanks for the reminder.
re: “I see owls when I travel. They are believed to be carriers of omens by Hawaiians. Does this mean we are related?”, Did you notice that wow is half of the letters of Owlbow? I wouldn’t be surprised if we were. Flash!: Last night 4AM 16th, just outside my window, an owl screamed and than made some nicer sounds just after. Although I’m a light sleeper, it woke me with a start. I’m not sure what kind of owl it was – Screech, Barn, Barred? – but I hope it’s wasn’t a message for me, especially since my birthday was 15th. I’m not scared yet, but I’m wary (and weary too)
Hi AnnaStrophic,
re: carriers of letters Gives new meaning to “going postal”?
Yo Jheem,
re: I thought it was a comment on the Ox-Bow Incident at Owl Creek Bridge ‘really good & interesting guess, but I’m glad I wasn’t there, and re:. … for our quatorze juilletiers, La Rivière du hibou. I must admit that I’m not sure what this means. Why was the river full of owls on the 14th? Does it have anything to do with Bastille Day? Excuse my ignorance.
Thank you all
and re:. ... for our quatorze juilletiers, La Rivière du hibou. I must admit that I'm not sure what this means. Why was the river full of owls on the 14th? Does it have anything to do with Bastille Day? Excuse my ignorance.
The Incident at Owl Creek Bridge, which was first shown on US TV as a Twilight Zone episode was a French short movie (with barely any dialog) called La Rivière du hibou. So, I was just free-associating on Bastille Day. Not your ignorance, my obfuscation. To further complicate things, Uhu, is a German company that makes adhesives. Uhu means a kind of owl.
Thanks, now I'm a little less ignorant, and had some fun along the way.
The Incident at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce is the original. I read it at lunchtime just the other day.
The Incident at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce is the original.
Occurence, I think. Yes, indeed. One of San Francisco's finest authors. Too bad we lost 'im.
My dad (my step-father) is leader of a small clan of Ani-Yun-Wiya (aka Cherokee) in south eastern TN. His tribal name is "Owl Talker."
k
Indeed, jheem, this is one of the 'classic' short films. Its director, Robert Enrico, also filmed two other Ambrose Bierce stories 'Chickamauga' and 'The mocking bird' and all three were released in 1961 under the title 'Au coeur de la vie'. I'm lucky enough to have excellent 16mm prints of the first two films in my collection.
I'm lucky enough to have excellent 16mm prints of the first two films in my collection.
Very cool, paulb. I always wanted to have a film collection on film. What sort of projector(s) do you have?
Anna S gave me mine. My Yahoo ID is suet55 (My name is Sue, my second initial T), I sign my pottery suet (although I put the t under the u when I do it) and she called me Birdfeed in an e-mail once. It actually took me a few minutes to figure out why. So when she recruited me to this list it seemed like a good choice. She suggested I go to Vienna once, and it turned out to be one of the best ideas she ever had. This is a much cheaper thrill. And worth every penny.
She suggested I go to Vienna once, and it turned out to be one of the best ideas she ever had. 
jheem, I've been involved with 16mm films and projection since I was a schoolboy. As a librarian, I managed the [Tasmanian] State Film Library (and Recorded Music Section) for 10+ years, and many of my evenings are spent projecting films for the Hobart Film Society [www.tased.edu.au/tasonline/hfilmsoc/] and various community groups. I have 900+ films (mainly shorts and children's films) and a dozen or so projectors to keep me busy.
paulb-- I used to run the old Bell & Howells projectors in high school. Lots of fun, though I was always more into the production side. Still have a couple of 16mm cameras. I wonder what the cost of a 400' roll of 7222 is these days? One thing I don't miss about film is the physicality of editing. I never could do a proper cemant splice.
cemant splicewell, I've heard of music concréte, but film concréte?
"well, I've heard of music concréte, but film concréte?"
It's um, you know, hard core.
It's all in the mix.......
what's cemant? A mere typo, or...?
And in answer to this thread's original question:
The name Coffeebean came about from a teenage friend who asked me, "Know what I mean, jellybean?" I replied, with latte in hand, "I'm more of a coffeebean, don't you think?" And the name stuck.
Zed is a combination. Partly Canadiana - up here it's the name of the last letter of the alphabet. Partly the nickname of an imaginary character, rather than an imaginary friend, from stories I dreamed up as a child. I use the middle and last names as passwords for various things. I'll won't forget them and noone else will ever guess them.
cemant splice
Sorry, I meant cement splice. Now where'd I put my gutta percha? It ain't a fit night out for man nor beast.
what's cemant? A mere typo, or...?
A moribund formica farm. Cet Nam?
Mine's almost too obvious--My name's Joann, and my kids were
telling"yo-mama" jokes and one of them had to say Jo-mama,
and so--
Yo Ma-Ma, isn't he that cellist left his strad in the cab that once a year or so ago?
I'm trying to prevent people from realizing that my true identity is David Bowie.
I knew it! I've been on to you for weeks.
I adopted mine after returning to the US after 18 years in Brazil. Some Portuguese syntax had crept into my (spoken) English.
But now I'm wondering: maybe I am anastrophic as opposed to catastrophic?
maybe I am anastrophic as opposed to catastrophic?Ohhhhh, ain't gonna touch that one !
They're carriers of letters in the Harry Potter books, she added helpfully.
Don't you mean:
"They're carriers of letters in the Harry Potter books," she added post-haste.
In Vermont, natives are called Woodchucks and people from away are called Flatlanders. Course, I no longer live in Vermont, but the handle has stuck.
I hesitate to explain my e-name because it is much too clever.
No one likes a smart-ass, nor do I.
No matter; I hereby purge my self-satisfied ego and hereby confess and render my sin incarnate...
Amemeba (that's me}
Ameba: A basic individual entity of biological life.
Meme: A basic unit of cultural input contributing towards the whole.
See? I recognize that the two are one in the same...aren't I clever? :)
Love it. That's awfully clever, really. I'd worked out the ameba part but hadn't come to your glorious conclusion, since I was mentally pronouncing it with four syllables. Now let's go outside and discuss your expression one in the same. It works; it's very southern and to the point, but for the moment it ain't right.
welcome back
So right you really are,
AnnaStrophic. I can't explain it; I just know what it means.
Maybe it's Edgar Poe's fault...
Like a circle that ever returneth to the self-same spot,
And more of madness, and horror, the soul of the plot.But wait! We have here a classic example of a meme in action. First comes nuance then comes meaning.
Be kind to idioms. Idioms are people too.
I always thought it was "one and the same" - usually elided to "one an' the same"
"one and the same" - usually elidedYup.
We Southerners do a lotta elidin.
I always, here in Florida where only a few of us are really southerners, had heard "one and the same"--a friend some years ago said she read "one in the same" in a british novel, and after consideration, thought it made sense and might show a slight philosophic divergence between US and English english. I just thought it didn't make as much sense.
...makes sense philosophically in the same fashion that the what's the difference between a duck riddle makes sense philosophically.
In two me's or not into me?
What in Samemeba you talkin' about?
Samemeba is right next to Tarnation.
"What in Samemeba you talkin' about?" - Jackie
Don't tease, music, the phrase is most commonly and correctly offered as ...
Who in Samemeba are you talking about?
Of course when saying this saying it is not necessary to Capitalize.
Musick--you got it right!
All I'll say is that it's Tolkein. Anyone ready to figure it out?
>gonoldothrond
I tend to want to read this as goldenrod, which prolly isn't what you had in mind...
All I'll say is that it's Tolkein.
I thought it was special kind of flattened thread from Pangæa ... Er, doesn't thrond mean eyrie in Sindarin? Not sure about the other bit ...
Seeing as nobody has guessed it yet, I've decided to give you all another hint: if you do some searching, you'll find that I actually TOLD you what my moniker means in an earlier post! Any takers?
123877
from a leftenant of the hallway to the bathroom...
My given name is Connie. When I lived in Mexico, most people had difficulty pronouncing my name correctly so I chose to be known as Consuelo. I like the meaning behind it (consolation) and it is actually a very nice blend of my given name and my middle name. Ole!
G-thrond:
It is an Elvish word (i.e. J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings language) meaning 'commander of the halls of knowledge'. Danged if I didn't miss it the first time!
oh sure, spill the beans, Jackie... I was at least trying to give people a chance...
Oh--sorry! Nobody seemed to be taking up his challenge, and I thought you were talking about your own name! The numbers, I mean.
heh. zok.
the numbers are the thread number, though I forgot the category...
I mize well say right now, 'most any reference to Lord of the Rings is going to go right over my head, in case that's where 'zok' came from. I read it when I was in college, and was sufficiently unimpressed that I have had no desire to re-read it or see the movies. A nice enough little story, but.
As another non-LOR fan, my guess is zok = [it]s ok
and the prize goes to nancy!
zok = [it]s ok
ooops, I thought that was what Pinky (and the Brain) the mouse said when he got hit on the head. Or is that Nok?
Either way it's as far from LOR as fiction can get!
and the prize goes to nancy!Ooh, ooh, I
love (sur)prizes [clapping-hands -gleefully emoticon] When can I expect it?
ooops, I thought that was what Pinky (and the Brain) the mouse said when he got hit on the head.
That's either "zonk" or "narf".