OT: Wherefore thou handle?

[wire chief]

Maybe 4 or 6 or 8 years ago, we were asked to explain the name we go by. Now with the passage of time, new folks have joined, longtime posters may have changed it, or we have forgotten the results by now.
Back then I wrote that I selected my BY name as a homage to my maternal grandfather and to commemorate a slice of Americana.

Once upon a time there was a New York Central Railroad, its River Division extending from Albany to Weehawken. On the Jersey end grandpa was on the upstairs floor of the terminal, pecking out the dots and dashes that kept the trains humming.
His title was wire chief.

How about you?

 

[Sonny44]

My parents had two daughters and I surmise that my my father prayed for a son. He probably gave up, but 7 years later, in 1944, I came along. His brothers probably knew this so they called me sonny. That label identified me for many years until I started to discourage its use. For old time sake I have unearthed it.

 

[BroadwayVa]

My BY ID was hard to come up with--loads of thinking
Back in the bad argumentative days of Courant UConn blogs---I went by Broadway Bill
John A sent me a personal mail and explained he like Broadway shows too, I do like them but that was not the reason for the ID--I'm a musical lover--one hard part of being hearing challenged (stupid name for being deaf)

But it it only the name of a Virginia town---I don't live in it--just close---in this area of Virginia towns (or sections of land later called towns) change their names as the people live there names changed
Broadway has had many in the past 120 years.

My personal ID has remained nearly constant except for what I was called---some professional, so not so professional.

 

[BroadwayVa]

My parents had two daughters and I surmise that my my father prayed for a son. He probably gave up, but 7 years later, in 1944, I came along. His brothers probably knew this so they called me sonny. That label identified me for many years until I started to discourage its use. For old time sake I have unearthed it.

Sonny---I have over 100 cousins and uncles on 2 sides, big families, nearly all the boys/men went by nick names-not all as easy as Sonny--yet there was one--after nearly 40 years of traveling and living around the country and overseas--I went back--none were then known by who I knew they were--most I never knew there real FIRST name.

 

[Scud49]

Mine had it's origins years ago when I played fantasy football at work before I retired. I'm a Patriots fan, and one day on the news they had a segment about Patriot missiles being used to shoot down Scud missiles. So, I liked the Patriot connection and I named my FFB team "Scudbusters". Since then I have shortened it to "Scud" and tacked on 49, the year I was born.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

A nick name "Rocky" but also a reference to where I live... in the Rockies of Montana MT and blue (Husky blue) 2... cuz 1 wasn't available. I use to be 1 on a previous platform of the BY and when we switched over it kept rejecting me as 1!

 

[ctfjr]

Once upon a time there was a New York Central Railroad, its River Division extending from Albany to Weehawken. On the Jersey end grandpa was on the upstairs floor of the terminal, pecking out the dots and dashes that kept the trains humming.
His title was wire chief.

How about you?

Then you title is spot on! For over 100 years amateur radio operators (hams) and early telegraphers used the word handle for name.

ctfjr is not ctf jr. Its ct fjr - I'm from CT and I ride a Yamaha FJR motorcycle.

 

[meyers7]

Meyers is an alias. My dad was raised by a friend of his mother's. (raised being a loosely defined term) She tended to get married and divorced quite often. When she got a new husband my dad's name would get changed (sometimes just the last name, sometimes his first and last.) Meyers was one of those changes. When he turned 18 and graduated, he went back to his original name.

Anyway, I worked for my dad at his drug store when I was young. Stacking shelves, sweeping, pricing, etc. Well he couldn't have me on the payroll (underage and nepotism) so he payed me as Richard Meyers.


We needed a handle to be on the internet, so I thought of meyers. (Found out a few years ago, it was actually spelled Myers. Too late.)

The 7? It's the most perfect number, duh.

So there you have it, meyers7. A lot of that story was true.

(Didn't figure people would buy the undercover operative for a secret government program alias story. Probably just as well. )

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

My real name.

 

[Orangutan]

Really quite simple. I like orangutans.

 

[Bliss]

Several years ago friends and I stopped at a Route 66 roadside park for a cold one. Undecided which way to go next I suggested (more than once) that we take Bliss Road just beside of us according to the sign. It was then suggested that I might want to have my eyesight checked because the sign actually read "BL I-55" (Business Loop I-55).

My roadie name immediately became Bliss.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Anyway, I worked for my dad at his drug store when I was young. Stacking shelves, sweeping, pricing, etc. Well he couldn't have me on the payroll (underage and nepotism) so he payed me as Richard Meyers.

I worked for my father from the age of 12 until I was 21 and went my own way. He was a small electrical contractor - 1 to 3 employees depending the economy. He had no problem with underage workers. As far as the payroll was concerned, I did not exist. He just took more profit for himself saying part of it was for my college tuition. It must not have been a lot of money since I worked my way through college. Funny guy he was.

SVCBeercats is simply Saint Vincent College where I got my BS. Beercats is a modification of Bearcats. SVC is in Latrobe, PA home of Arnold Palmer, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and at the time Rolling Rock beer. To a college kid the importance the these three probably was the inverse order. Keggers with the townie and Seton Hill girls!

 

[Wally East]

Wally West is my favorite superhero (he's the 3rd person to be known as The Flash in DC Comics) but using that name seems presumptuous, so, Wally East

 

[LasVegasYank]

Retired in '97 and moved to Florida a year later. Had been visiting Las Vegas however we soon tired of juggling hotel, flight and rental car so we sprang for a nearly-new condo on the West side of LV in 2000. Shipped one of our cars there as we had a garage. Lived there part time for 13 years before we sold it.

A CT Yankee in Las Vegas. (Not exactly King Arthur's court)

 

[Shorty Dee]

Well my name is pretty simple....short and sweet like me .
Dee is my nickname I gave myself, because I was tired of people messing up my name, but only certain people can call me Dee, and Shorty is from my height.

 

[CL82]

I answered this question many times over the years. Way back when I was reading the the old Courant (men's team) board and read something that I wanted to which I wanted to respond, but when it came time to pick a name, nothing came to mind. I just couldn't think what I should type. I looked up at my Dual Audio speakers and saw the following message:

So I did and I've been CL82 ever since.

(Really it's not so bad since it could have been Neinbelastbarkeit.)

 

[triaddukefan]

I live in the Triad (NC) and I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove

 

[Orangutan]

I live in the Triad (NC) and I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove

View attachment 23225

Here I thought you loved Duke the dog from the Bush's baked beans commercials

 

[Zanzman]

Zanzibars was my dog so slight change for me

 

[CL82]

Here I thought you loved Duke the dog from the Bush's baked beans commercials

Cousins.... Identical cousins...

 

[Bigboote]

One of my favorite movies is The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. The bad guys are Lectroids (my avatar) and all named John. One of them is John Bigboote. Most people pronounce is big booty, and a running gag through the movie is him saying, "It's big boo TAY!"

 

[Drumguy]

I answered this question many times over the years. Way back when I was reading the the old Courant (men's team) board and read something that I wanted to which I wanted to respond, but when it came time to pick a name, nothing came to mind. I just couldn't think what I should type. I looked up at my Dual Audio speakers and saw the following message:

So I did and I've been CL82 ever since.

(Really it's not so bad since it could have been Neinbelastbarkeit.)

Stephen Stills talks about how he came up with the name Buffalo Springfield - he walked out of a restaurant in Kansas and saw a steamroller with the name. Then of course there's the reason Oz was named oz- the O to Z on a file cabinet.

 

[Drumguy]

Mine is very simple, I had writers block when it was time to pick a handle. I had just started playing the drums (and I'm a guy) so I took Drumguy. I believe Drummer was already taken and so were Numbers and BeanCounter since that's my day job. For the life of me I couldn't think of a clever Husky name.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I answered this question many times over the years. Way back when I was reading the the old Courant (men's team) board and read something that I wanted to which I wanted to respond, but when it came time to pick a name, nothing came to mind. I just couldn't think what I should type. I looked up at my Dual Audio speakers and saw the following message:

So I did and I've been CL82 ever since.

(Really it's not so bad since it could have been Neinbelastbarkeit.)

I thought it was Class of 82

 

[triaddukefan]

Here I thought you loved Duke the dog from the Bush's baked beans commercials