The Case of the Handle Initial

[godfry n. glad]

By now, most regular denizens of ff have figured out that I'm a case-sensitive kinda guy. I didn't give it much thought, because I've explained a couple of times in a couple of different places why I pointed ask that folks NOT capitalize either of my names in my handle.

For those who haven't heard it, I created it for Usenet alt.atheism and it's basically a statement (god-free and glad). The lower case is that I'm pointedly stating that not only do I not believe in the Judeao-Christian YHWHistic god, I don't believe in others, either. And, I'm neither distraught nor confused about that, but comfortable enough to be glad with it.

Just recently, I noticed that not only am I case sensitive, but at least one of the admins bitches openly about people miscapitalizing her handle. Then I notice that the other admin uses lower case on his handle. Not only that, there are others on the board...warrenly, ceptimus, beyelzu, copiae, xouper...you all know who you are. Is there a reason, other than sheer laziness, for the lower case?

or...:noid:

Am I an unwitting part of a heretofore unrecognized and quickly spreading conspiracy to decapitalize?

I'm particularly interested in livius drusus' rationale. (Anybody ever get to "libidinous doofus" yet?)

[livius drusus]

Not yet, godfry, but I betcha it'll be all over now. :glare:

Why do I use lower case? I'm not sure I have a terribly cogent reason like yours. livius_drusus was my first email addy back before I even had a computer of my own, so when I registered at IIDB (the first board I ever registered at using a pseudonym), I used the exact same syntax, even down to the underscore.

Eventually the underscore bugged me so I removed it, and by then it seemed somehow "off" to me to be addressed with initial caps. For one thing, I didn't use the first name Marcus or the classic M. Had I gone for Marcus Livius Drusus or M. Livius Drusus, I probably would have capitalized.

Also, the initial caps looked a bit pompous to me -- I'm not really sure why -- and the last thing I need is to come off as even more pompous than I already do.

As for why it bugs me to me addressed with an initial cap or far, far worse, with just the two initials capitalized, it's more of an anality thing than anything else. It's out of place. Wrong. It rings a tinny note in my ear and I want it to stop dear god please stop the pain I can't take it anymore can't take it she's breaking up she's brea

[Beth]

But I like capitalizing names. :blush3:

[godfry n. glad]

Well, now, Beth sweetheart...

That's just fine and okay. I understand, even though it is not a universally accepted convention. It's just that in my case, I've taken to thinking "Godfrey" is somebody other than me.

Although initially my omitting the "e" in the godfry was an oversight, it turned out to be useful and a bit amusing. Amusing because it can be interpreted as "god fry"...sorta like "fish fry" or "shrimp fry", which sounds like a fun Sunday morning kinda thing to do. Useful because the lack of the "e" sets me apart from most of the other Godfreys online and I can do vanity searches and find focused references to me fairly quickly.

:smug:

:vain:

[wei yau]

Hmmm...I started out as "eldar1011" and having an intial cap in an alphanumeric string just strikes me as odd.

However, once I truncated the name to "eldar", as the numbers made it seem to AOL-ish, I still retained the lowercasing.

It just *looks* better. The "e", "d", "a" and even the "r" are nicely rounded. A capital "E" makes it look very strange to me "Eldar".

I think that for me it was just a matter of having gotten used to all lowercase and now Initial Cap seems weird.

[godfry n. glad]

Not yet, godfry, but I betcha it'll be all over now. :glare:



:heckled:

Oh... I dunno... Considering the number who probably have me on "ignore", it probably won't spread fast.

...just to all the wrong people. :D

[viscousmemories]

Sheer laziness on my part. Plus I think it looks weird when it's capitalized, since it's not even really a word.

[copiae]

copiae was my first email address handle as well. Perhaps because it of its common noun origins in Latin, or perhaps because capitalisation doesnt exactly seem quite right on it... I've never really used capitals for it.

[Ymir's blood]

My usernames have almost always been capitalized. For the one on this board, only the first word is, as it is a proper noun. The second word isn't so it is in lowercase. Ymir's (pronounced 'imirs') blood.

[ceptimus]

ceptimus has always been written all in lower case. I've had that nickname now for about 35 years. Obviously most of that time was not on-line.

It seems a bit arrogant to me to use upper case for a handle. I'm not calling people who do it arrogant though as I know it is merely a convention, and I do use captial initial letters myself (of course) for my real life name.

I always try to write other people's handles accurately. If I've ever gotten the spelling or capitalisation of your name wrong, I'm sorry.

[livius drusus]

I'm conscientious about that too, cep. :yup:

[Corona688]

I like my handle capitalized, and am annoyed when people omit the numbers. But then, even a capital C is nice and round, as are the numbers; and I like asymmetric/skewed/offset/tilted things, observe my avatar.

[viscousmemories]

Huh, I didn't know you cared about the numbers. I think I've called you Corona forever. Sorry. :blush:

[Crumb]

Can we just call you C-688?

[Corona688]

Huh, I didn't know you cared about the numbers. I think I've called you Corona forever. Sorry. :blush: No problem. It's not a big deal, just an aesthetic thing, so I didn't mention it until godfry actually asked 'bout this stuff. I suppose it's a natural enough guess to think I'd just tacked on random numbers to generate a unique handle.Can we just call you C-688? Sure.

[freemonkey]

Not sure why I left mine lower case, but I like it that way. I may feel the tiniest twinge when someone writes it with a cap F, and more so if someone writes it in 2 words free monkey or Free Monkey.

Sorry Corona688, I didn't realize about the numbers, I'm not as good with numbers, have a harder time realizing they are there.

Now, what about abbreviations? liv? godfry? vm?

[Crumb]

I need my name to be capitalized. It feeds my ego. :snooty:

[godfry n. glad]

Okay... Sensitivities it is...

beyelzu... Do you mind that I refer to you as "bub"?

From my view, it's using the portion of the name that is not there: beyelzu-bub.

[godfry n. glad]

Now, what about abbreviations? liv? godfry? vm?

For my part, I like that I can go just by "godfry", so I can say that it bothers me not at all. I like to shorten others' handles (I mean, c'mon...how many people want to key in "viscousmemories" every time? I don't.), recognizably, so I extend that to others. There's no need to write the whole thing out, especially when you can get the specficity required with a small g and no e godfry. As for the glad, that's the basic, but it can change. Indeed, if you've watched my posts, you know that I play with the "last name" at lot. I'm "god free and..." many things. My favorite, so far, was "godfry scott wanderlust" .

I've seen folks who use "gng" for me. That doen't bother me, either.

I found it interesting that there are many who don't "get" my handle from the get-go. They think it's a real name. I've been referred to as Mr. Glad, which amuses me considerably.

liv, what about 54? Do you find it as amusing as I, after you figured it out?

(and...are you case-sensitive even at the beginning of a sentence)

godfry n. curious

[viscousmemories]

I think I like vm better than Tom. I've disliked Tom ever since I found out I wasn't the only one in the world.

[godfry n. glad]

I think I like vm better than Tom. I've disliked Tom ever since I found out I wasn't the only one in the world.

What do you think of the 995 reference?

[viscousmemories]

I think it's a cute in-joke, but for some reason it has never rung with me like 54 for liv.

[Crumb]

995 & 54. I like it.

[livius drusus]

I like having three stages of name. It's like occasion-appropriate clothing: livius drusus = formalwear, livius = business casual, liv = casual casual.

I also really like -- although it never ocurred to me when I picked the name -- that livius and its dimunitive introduce a certain cender ambiguity. Since people assume male when they see livius drusus or even livius, I think it's cool that by the time people feel comfortable enough around me to call me liv, which is a female name, they know I'm a woman.

I dig having an easy to type option which is still a name instead of initials, and I dig that it's also a roman numeral but only really in upper case, which of course I prefer people not use. He he... It's just fun. Coincidental complexity pleases me.

I do enjoy the 54 thing, godfry, but within limits. I would not like to be constantly referred to as such (a bit too inside jokey for anyone who night have read these threads, and also I really like the name I've chosen and miss it when it's not used or not used right).

[Trinity]

I think you have a distinct feminine tone to your writing. It never occurred to me that you were a male. (livius).

[livius drusus]

That's cause I've gone all soft since we opened FF. :girl:

[pescifish]

I like having three stages of name. It's like occasion-appropriate clothing: livius drusus = formalwear, livius = business casual, liv = casual casual.For some reason, I have had a hard time calling you 'liv'. I'm more comfy with 'livius'. I hope you don't take that as a sign that I'm not willing to go the full distance of familiarity. :blush:

I like my nick in lowercase mostly because I like how it looks better. With a capital "P", I feel like people will just trip over the first letter, crashing into the rest of it, get up and stumble forward only to hit the "f" and get smacked at the end by the "h". Whereas they can float comfortably over the lower case version, still strong enough to push through the "f" and "h". I like seeing 'pesci' (pronounced "pesky") for the familiar; it makes me smile. 'Fish' works if you want to call me by real name.

godfry, I've tried to be careful with your nick ever since you first mentioned it. I hope I haven't messed up (too many times, at least).

I've tended to type "Corona688", but have consciously stopped myself and backspaced over the numbers several times thinking "everyone else is looking so friendly by shortening it; I should too". :doh:

[livius drusus]

Not at all, pesci. I'm perfectly comfy cosy with you calling me livius. I just meant that I myself use them on different occasions, like you might recall at IIDB when I was acting as moderator I would always sign with livius drusus.

[Blake]

Capitalization and punctuation count in a proper name. That's all there is to it.

Maybe capitalization is arrogant, but I use it because it's the actual name I go by, and I just don't have the convictions of the e.e. cummings movement. I like it because it's real yet properly generic enough for a degree of anonymity online.

Unlike Tom, I don't have a problem with my actual name because I've known for a very long time that my full name has to be unique. :giggle:

[Ymir's blood]

a certain cender ambiguity
I do find your stance on cender to be quite perplexing. :wink:

[Godless Wonder]

Why do both capital and lowercase letters exist at all? It's a pain in the ass. It's a pain in the ass endured for purely aesthetic "reasons." as if anything "purely aesthetic" could be remotely reasonable.

On forums and such, case sensitivity is completely endurable. It's in C++ code that it gets fucking annoying.

ThisIsNotMoreReadableYouMoronsDespiteYourFuckingClaims than something_far_more_sensible_like_this. There is a reason sentences begin with a capital letter, but generally contain no other capitals. Capital letters reduce readability, always. always.

</rant about my own pet peeve.>

Edit: Apparently vBulletin sticks a space in there if you try to type too many letters in a row with no spaces.... There is no space between the 'l' and the 'a' in 'Claims' above.

[livius drusus]

a certain cender ambiguity
I do find your stance on cender to be quite perplexing. :wink:

Meanie. :hmph:

[Ensign Steve]

nitpick: VM is not 995 in Roman numerals. 995 is CMXCV, so I don't blame you, vm, for not embracing that nickname. /nitpick

As for the caps, I don't care. And it's a good thing I don't care, because between my online handle and my actual last name, there are a million different ways to capitalize them and if the "wrong" ways bothered me, I'd probably go completely batshit within a week.

My online handle:
On bulletin board environments, I go by Ensign Steve, and people shorten it to ES, es, Ensign, ensign, Steve, steve, whatever. Other places I frequent (like muds) don't support the space, nor do they allow capital letters in the middle of a word, so I come out as Ensignsteve. And of course my very own webspace is www.ensignsteve.com. Makes no difference to me. Just as long as people pronouce it right. That's what I'm picky about. :fuming:

My real-life name:
In the real world, I call myself J.D. McClain.

capital J, period, no space, capital D, period, space, capital M, small C (not superscript C), no space, capital C, small lain

That is my offical, self-proclaimed way of writing my name. However, there are a many variations, depending on personal tastes and supported formats. On my military ID, my last name is spelled Mcclain (not unlike the Ensignsteve of the muds). On my uniforms, it is MCCLAIN, which I prefer, because if I am going to all-caps something, I'm going to all-caps the whole damn thing! What makes the little C special? Nothing! I've seen other Mc's put a space or float the C (superscript) and I'm like, "okay, whatever, it's your choice I guess" but I don't see the point. :shrug:

[JoeP]

I think you have a distinct feminine tone to your writing. It never occurred to me that you were a male. (livius).
Trinity, how polite you are!

[JoeP]

Seems I have unusual capitalisation then. Embedded caps ... SorryAboutThat,GW. But I'm in good company with AspenMama, LadyShea, HelenM, and more.

I don't much care between "Joe" and "joe" but I couldn't go for "Joep" or "joep" because that would look like the Dutch name pronounced yoop and ThatIsNotAcceptable.

/me WondersIfWeCouldHaveEntirePostsWrittenInCamelCaps

Godfry, how do you feel about your handle being capitalised at the beginning of a sentence? Livius, how about you? It seems just a step too fussy to retain lowercasity even there.

[godfry n. glad]

Y'now, Joe, for some inexplicable reason, I prefer the lower caseitosity over the initial position, so I guess I do care. Not that there is anything I can do about it, short of getting my panties in a twist.

Also, I've always thought of you as JoePKing, or JoeKing, or, better yet, Just Joe King. I've always thought of HelenM as HelenBack, too.

Twisted mind, I guess.

[JoeP]

We knew that already

[livius drusus]

Y'now, Joe, for some inexplicable reason, I prefer the lower caseitosity over the initial position, so I guess I do care. Not that there is anything I can do about it, short of getting my panties in a twist.

:yeahthat:

It's very strange really, since I vastly prefer initial sentence caps to some of the more casual intarweb approaches to posting. Go figya... :shrug:

[Dingfod]

warrenly started as a made-up descriptive word, I am warrenly, like manly or worldly, meaning warren-like, whether that be Warren Harding-like or a rabbit hutch-like, whatever. I also created it before screennames could even have capital letters: warrenly AT compuserve.com or warrenly AT prodigy.com. Also, I'm just plain too lazy to be creative with my screenname.

Okay, now I want to change my screenname. Maybe what I had during my short stint at that stinkhole, SDMB: DogmaCat? Or, maybe to what I had at ULMB: Goes-hmmm? Or, maybe to what one of my best friends used to call me: Rabbit Trap? Opinions are welcome.

I forgot, I don't care about capitalization: call me Warrenly, WarrenLy, WaRrEnLy, I don't care, just don't call me late for dinner.

[godfry n. glad]

Y'now, Joe, for some inexplicable reason, I prefer the lower caseitosity over the initial position, so I guess I do care. Not that there is anything I can do about it, short of getting my panties in a twist.

:yeahthat:

It's very strange really, since I vastly prefer initial sentence caps to some of the more casual intarweb approaches to posting. Go figya... :shrug:

Yeah...curious, ain't it?

When I deal with other lower-case culprits, I never start a sentence with their names (now somebody will dredge up something where I've violated that...); instead, I use pointless place-keepers like "Well",... "Y'know",... or "C'mon" as initial, and thus capitalized, sentence starters.

[beyelzu]

Okay... Sensitivities it is...

beyelzu... Do you mind that I refer to you as "bub"?

From my view, it's using the portion of the name that is not there: beyelzu-bub.
I always figured as much, I think that you intimated that the first or second time you used it, I thought and still do think that it is a great fucking abbreviation, and kind of part of some form of communal communication. lots of people dont recognize beyelzu as beelzebub, so they will just be fucking confused by it.

In fact I mentioned to bree that it kind of bothered me when she called latin bub, because it has been used as a nick for me.

as an aside, being capitalized kind of irritates me, though I am not always assiduous about maintaining proper capitalization for others. however, I will try to do so in the future

bey is cool, it is like a nick for my nick, in my head I alwas read it as "bay" and beyelzu as "be-yellzu"

[beyelzu]

I like having three stages of name. It's like occasion-appropriate clothing: livius drusus = formalwear, livius = business casual, liv = casual casual.

I also really like -- although it never ocurred to me when I picked the name -- that livius and its dimunitive introduce a certain cender ambiguity. Since people assume male when they see livius drusus or even livius, I think it's cool that by the time people feel comfortable enough around me to call me liv, which is a female name, they know I'm a woman.

I dig having an easy to type option which is still a name instead of initials, and I dig that it's also a roman numeral but only really in upper case, which of course I prefer people not use. He he... It's just fun. Coincidental complexity pleases me.

I do enjoy the 54 thing, godfry, but within limits. I would not like to be constantly referred to as such (a bit too inside jokey for anyone who night have read these threads, and also I really like the name I've chosen and miss it when it's not used or not used right).

I am a retard.

LIV
54


I am such a fucking tard. and 995 makes sense now.

[Ensign Steve]

No 995 still doesn't make sense.

But I didn't get the beyelzu = beelzebub thingie, either, so nobody has to listen to me.

[beyelzu]

well, that is where it came from as a shortened quasi phonetic spelling of beelzebub cuz beelzebub doesnt rhyme with wheelzebub.

[beyelzu]

No 995 still doesn't make sense.

But I didn't get the beyelzu = beelzebub thingie, either, so nobody has to listen to me.
well I understand the thinking behind 995 subtract the smaller number from the larger number to the right of it so 5 from 1000 or 995.

[justaman]

I forget if I capitalised my name or not, testing.

[justaman]

Oh looky I didn't. :)

I first used this nick on CF and consciously made it lowercase because of a friend of mine who I did my english degree with who never capitilises, ever. It's basically a Bringing Down The Man thing. "I know proper English but I'm not one of these predictable snot-heads who gets all prim and prissy about. I care not."

Edited: to say that I've changed my opinion somewhat after witnessing some of the horrific capitilisation displays at CF. I formed the acc (anti-capitalisation conspiracy) which I am still tyrant and dictator for life of.

[Beth]

Godfry (haha, you mustn't object to your name in caps in the beginning of a sentence, surely! :ptht: :nyahnyah: :didi: ), I read your name as Godfrey, as in My Man, Godfrey, but I always thought it came from god(diety)-fry(form of cooking or another term for sizzling in the flames of hell).