Explain your UC User Name and Avatar

[SBurk49]

I'm not too original either.

My Username is my name irl. Spencer Burk. My jersey number in highschool football (the American one) was 49.

My avatar is the King of Spades. Which is funny, because when it come to the game Spades, I am actually, the King of Spades.

Meaning... I am better than you. Trust me.

[RSLancastr]

I'm not too original either.

My Username is my name irl. Spencer Burk.

My jersey number in highschool football (the American one) was 49.

I'm so glad to hear that, because "S'Burk!" is very much like the sound I make after drinking a carbonated beverage too quickly. and as for "49"... let's just say I had you pegged as an old miner who drinks a lot of soda.

My avatar is the King of Spades. Which is funny, because when it come to the game Spades, I am actually, the King of Spades.

Meaning... I am better than you. Trust me.

[/quote]

A pretty safe bet, since I have never played the game.

Thanks for the explanations!

[nECr0MaNCeD]

Well the name is a variation on my original Gamer tag from waaaay back. Which was simply nECrO. Like RSLancaster, I was on the internet early. 1992ish. (BBSes and Usenet baby!) Back then it was common for the elite and wanna be elite to mix cases in their names. I was somewhere in the middle then. I ended up using variations because it's been about a decade since I was able to get that name. No matter how early I got a game someone else already had nECrO. Go figure. The name itself, other than being the Greek word for corpse or dead (nekros) it is a nod to the Necroscope series of books by Brian Lumley.

As for my avatar, I get bored and change them. You will notice most are skulls. A theme you would understand if you could see my tattoos.

PS If I ever visit Texas Sburke I'll be glad to put that Spades claim to the test!

[OnTheGrind]

username:

I work in a highly overachieving/competitive profession. The phrase "the grind" refers to the daily process of working and chipping away at something that is very monotonous. I'm "On the grind" because I am currently beating my head against the corporate machine and working as hard as I can to both improve my work performance, as well as my cardistry!

Avatar:

self-explanatory.

So, you'e a miller?

Thanks for the explanations!

Haha, I'm a business/strategy consultant. Great topic btw, great idea on making it!

[RSLancastr]

Well the name is a variation on my original Gamer tag from waaaay back. Which was simply nECrO. Like RSLancaster, I was on the internet early. 1992ish. (BBSes and Usenet baby!) Back then it was common for the elite and wanna be elite to mix cases in their names. I was somewhere in the middle then. I ended up using variations because it's been about a decade since I was able to get that name. No matter how early I got a game someone else already had nECrO. Go figure. The name itself, other than being the Greek word for corpse or dead (nekros) it is a nod to the Necroscope series of books by Brian Lumley.

As for my avatar, I get bored and change them. You will notice most are skulls. A theme you would understand if you could see my tattoos.

Thanks for the explanations!

1992? Man, that is early!

PS If I ever visit Texas Sburke I'll be glad to put that Spades claim to the test!

And the gauntlet has been thrown!

Haha, I'm a business/strategy consultant. Great topic btw, great idea on making it!

Thanks, it has turned out to be pretty interesting, hasn't it?

[Maddest Hammer]

Well, since Robert invited me, I'll join in. Hammer is most of my last name, Brohammer. In the military, unless your name is really short, it somehow gets shortened. So, Hammer it is. I went with Maddest Hammer not because I'm angry, but that I was usually the guy that said "hey y'all, watch this". Happily, I still have all my fingers and toes. In my last few years before I retired, I was the guy yelling at the kids doing the dumb stuff I probably would have done if I were their age. So, crazy, not mad. And a play on words from the Mad Hatter...

which leads in to my avatar. Why use a picture from a Disney movie, when you can beg someone you know who illustrates to draw a likeness of you with top-hat and cards for the 10/6.

And no, I'm not overly fond of Alice in Wonderland, or Lewis Carroll, but the Hatter was one CRAZY bastard.

And for a little extra, anyone curious about my signature line, I am a baseball fan, and while in San Francisco one cold summer day, my wife and I went to a Giants game. Anyone that has been to SF knows that the panhandlers are EVERYWHERE...(kinda like Paris), anyway, while leaving the game, I saw one particular, um, gentleman, sitting with his cardboard sign which said "I will kidnap and torture your boss for $1" I thought that so funny, I gave the guy a $5. Mostly because I hated my boss. Anyway, I still think it's pretty damn funny...

MGB
Rutesheim, Germany 2014

[RSLancastr]

Thanks for the explanations, Hammer!

And, special thanks for the bonus/extra explanation!

Now, the next time I start one of these topics (on some other forum), I'll probably title it "Explain your forum User Name, Avatar and Sig Line"!

...which reminds me, I need to attribute mine.

ETA: Done.

[SBurk49]

PS If I ever visit Texas Sburke I'll be glad to put that Spades claim to the test!

Ya know I WAS going to go easy on you.

But since you've misspelled my name, no mercy.

[nECr0MaNCeD]

PS If I ever visit Texas Sburke I'll be glad to put that Spades claim to the test!

Ya know I WAS going to go easy on you.

But since you've misspelled my name, no mercy.

You have my most profound apologies sir.

As for taking it easy.... My grandma said, bring it.... don't sing it...

[RSLancastr]

But since you've misspelled my name, no mercy.

In all fairness, I think that he simply found the "e" apparently missing from my User name and gave it a new home in yours.

And hey, note that it is, at least, a silent "e" when appended to yours: Looks different, but sounds the same!

But I do feel your pain in this, as I cringe whenever I see someone misspelling mt last name as "Landcaster".

[MagikFingerz]

You guys think you have it bad with a tiny extra e after Burk or a measly extra d in Lancaster?

I frequently get people misspelling my username with c's and s'es, it's horrible

[montecarlojoe]

My username is pretty simple really - My other collection is of chips used in the casinos of Monte Carlo, Monaco. My name is Joe (or Joseph if you're my mum and I'm in trouble). Simples.

My avatar - I don't know really. I used to use the Tick (see my sig quote), but this spoke to me. I guess, like Oscar, I have a grumpy demeanour, but a big heart when you dig a bit. And who doesn't look good in aviators?

[RSLancastr]

You guys think you have it bad with a tiny extra e after Burk or a measly extra d in Lancaster?

I frequently get people misspelling my username with c's and s'es, it's horrible

I once bemoaned the "Landcaster" thing to a friend, and she told me that I had no idea.

Her last name: Jadwiszczok (It's Polish, pronounced "YAD-wish-chock".

Suddenly, "Landcaster" didn't seem so bad after all...

[Sher]

I had a high school English teacher whose last name is Blaszczak, pronounced Blay-zack. We had no problem pronouncing it... Only spelling it

As for my username... It's just short for Shermaine. I'm not called Sher very often in real life, because people come up with all sorts of things to call me: Gucci (after the rapper, Gucci-mane), Charlemagne (after the ruler), Sherbert (after the dessert), Sherminator (inspired by the Terminator), etc. I'm not very picky about what people call me, really.

Avatar: Lotrek provided me with this avatar when I became part of the UC Crew on Kickstarter and decided to use it on UC as well as KS.

[Mike Ratledge]

Heheheh. Good job, folks! I guess maybe I should explain why I use Mike Ratman on Facebook, maybe? I have been called "Ratman" since my high school days and a lot of people still do, especially old friends. Just a play on Ratledge. I'll go back and torment the heck out of people over there about Heretic and my secret project with Lotrek that I already teased here (Something Wicked This Way Comes)...

[RSLancastr]

I had a high school English teacher whose last name is Blaszczak, pronounced Blay-zack. We had no problem pronouncing it... Only spelling it

I don't think that pronunciation is correct (or perhaps his or her family "Westernized" it upon coming to America.

If it is Polish (and I think it is), it would properly be pronounced BLASH-chack (In Polish, "sz" is pronounced like "sh" is in English, and "cz" like "ch" is in English)

As for my username... It's just short for Shermaine. I'm not called Sher very often in real life, because people come up with all sorts of things to call me: Gucci (after the rapper, Gucci-mane), Charlemagne (after the ruler), Sherbert (after the dessert), Sherminator (inspired by the Terminator), etc. I'm not very picky about what people call me, really.

Avatar: Lotrek provided me with this avatar when I became part of the UC Crew on Kickstarter and decided to use it on UC as well as KS.

Thanks for the explanations!

[Mike Ratledge]

I had a high school English teacher whose last name is Blaszczak, pronounced Blay-zack. We had no problem pronouncing it... Only spelling it

I don't think that pronunciation is correct (or perhaps his or her family "Westernized" it upon coming to America.

If it is Polish (and I think it is), it would properly be pronounced BLASH-chack (In Polish, "sz" is pronounced like "sh" is in English, and "cz" like "ch" is in English)!

Maybe so, but there are "Blay-zack"s around here as well, and that's how they pronounce it here in the states, anyway.

It's one of those "huh?" names, like "Worchesterchire", which certainly doesn't look like "wu-ster-shire" to me, nor does Leicester look like "Lester" - but that's the way they are pronounced even in the Queen's English.

[RSLancastr]

It's one of those "huh?" names, like "Worchesterchire", which certainly doesn't look like "wu-ster-shire" to me, nor does Leicester look like "Lester" - but that's the way they are pronounced even in the Queen's English.

Yup. And they sometimes pronounce Lancaster LANG-kis-ter (as do many on the US East Coast, I've been told).

My family has always pronounced it LAN-cas-ter (rhymes with "fan master").

[Maddest Hammer]

It's one of those "huh?" names, like "Worchesterchire", which certainly doesn't look like "wu-ster-shire" to me, nor does Leicester look like "Lester" - but that's the way they are pronounced even in the Queen's English.

Yup. And they sometimes pronounce Lancaster LANG-kis-ter (as do many on the US East Coast, I've been told).

My family has always pronounced it LAN-cas-ter (rhymes with "fan master").

Or, if you live in Massachusetts it becomes "Wooster". And honestly, I wish I had a nickel for everyone who mis-pronounced Brohammer. I realize, growing up with it, it seems pretty simple, but come on...bro hammer. Simple, right? Nope. Somehow, the o becomes a u, or an i, and the a becomes ei, it has always baffled me how it gets screwed up. And then I came to Germany, the only place I've ever been that I don't have to correct anyone

[nECr0MaNCeD]

It's one of those "huh?" names, like "Worchesterchire", which certainly doesn't look like "wu-ster-shire" to me, nor does Leicester look like "Lester" - but that's the way they are pronounced even in the Queen's English.

Yup. And they sometimes pronounce Lancaster LANG-kis-ter (as do many on the US East Coast, I've been told).

My family has always pronounced it LAN-cas-ter (rhymes with "fan master").

Or, if you live in Massachusetts it becomes "Wooster". And honestly, I wish I had a nickel for everyone who mis-pronounced Brohammer. I realize, growing up with it, it seems pretty simple, but come on...bro hammer. Simple, right? Nope. Somehow, the o becomes a u, or an i, and the a becomes ei, it has always baffled me how it gets screwed up. And then I came to Germany, the only place I've ever been that I don't have to correct anyone

I feel your pain in this. Try having Helfer for a last name. If I had a dollar for everyone who pronounced it Heffer or Hefner I could retire. You'd think it was easy. 6 letters, 4 consonants broken with 2 vowels. Easy right? Not to mention the occasional Helper, which by the way is what it means in German. Bah! I give up.

[RSLancastr]

...and how tough is it to say "Lancaster"? just pronounce it the way it is spelled, how tough is that?

But noooo, I hear:

• Landcaster
• Langkister
• Lanchester
• Lankashear (???)

...and a few other permutations as well.

ETA:

A couple of years ago, my wife and I lived in the Lancaster Commons Apartments, in the North Lancaster neighborhood of Salem, just off of Lancaster Street, a few blocks north of the Lancaster Mall.

One day, we visited an eyeglasses vendor IN the Lancaster Mall, ON Lancaster Street.

When it came time to place the order, I had a conversation with the sales clerk which began like this:

Clerk (filling out order form): Your name please?
Me: Robert Lancaster
Clerk: So that's spelled L-A-N-D...
Me: NO!! Like the name of the Mall you work in! Like the name of the street you work on!! L-A-N-C-A-S-T-E-R!!!

Good grief!

[lolo]

Surprise ! Lolo is my nickname...

My avatar is "superdupont" a french cartoon character. It's a super hero parody with all the faults and clichés about french people...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdupont

Americans have superman, we have superdupont !

superdupont-250x362.jpg (24.37 KiB) Viewed 1268 times

[Mike Ratledge]

Robert, if you heard "Lan-kister" I'm betting it was someone that was or speaks Dutch or German. That's how the "Pennsylvania Dutch" say it. (they aren't Dutch, they are of German descent, like my mother's family surname is High or Hye in old English and Hoch in Tyskland / Germany.)

[RSLancastr]

Surprise ! Lolo is my nickname...

My avatar is "superdupont" a french cartoon character. It's a super hero parody with all the faults and clichés about french people...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdupont

Americans have superman, we have superdupont !

The attachment superdupont-250x362.jpg is no longer available

Thanks for the explanations, Lolo!

"Dupont" is best known to me, and probably to most Americans, as the name of a huge chemical company.

But it had never occurred to me, until I read your post about your avatar, that the word "Dupont" is, in fact, TWO words: "Du pont". I even know that "pont" is French for "bridge" (the structure, not, at least I don't think, the card game). I only know this from Pont neuf, etcetera, in Paris. So "Du pont" means "The bridge", something which simply never even occurred to me!

And now, armed with that information, I finally see that the word "DUPONT" within the famous "Dupont" logo ("DUPONT" inside an oval) is actually "DU PONT", but the space between the two words is narrow enough As to go unnoticed by those who, like me, were/are blissfully ignorant of it being two words. (see attachment below).

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPont:

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization[citation needed] and ninth based on revenue in 2012.[4] Its stock price is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

So thanks again Lolo, for the tidbit by which my poor brain made the connection.

SuperDupont would be proud (of you, not me)!

ETA: Another connection I had not made until now: The French word "Pont" (Bridge) and the Spanish word "Puente" (Bridge) almost certainly have a common ancestor!

What an educational thread/topic!!

[lolo]

"Dupont" is best known to me, and probably to most Americans, as the name of a huge chemical company.

But it had never occurred to me, until I read your post about your avatar, that the word "Dupont" is, in fact, TWO words: "Du pont". I even know that "pont" is French for "bridge" (the structure, not, at least I don't think, the card game). I only know this from Pont neuf, etcetera, in Paris. So "Du pont" means "The bridge", something which simply never even occurred to me!

Here are two other celebrity in Eurore : detectives Dupont and Dupond (Thomson and Thompson in english) !

Belgique_Dupont_et_Dupond_Thomson_and_Thompson___e64cd1cb2e6c41559c696376b4097f16.jpg (32.21 KiB) Viewed 1243 times

How to recognize them ? Dupond with a "D" have a mustache like a "D" (right) and Dupont with a "T" have a mustache like a "T" (left).

They were drawn by Hergé in "The Adventures of Tintin" :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ETA: Another connection I had not made until now: The French word "Pont" (Bridge) and the Spanish word "Puente" (Bridge) almost certainly have a common ancestor!

What an educational thread/topic!!

This is normal : french, italian, spannish and portuguese language are all derived from Latin language.

[RSLancastr]

How to recognize them ? Dupond with a "D" have a mustache like a "D" (right) and Dupont with a "T" have a mustache like a "T" (left).

I remember them well, from watching TinTin on television as a child! Does "Pond" mean anything in French?

This is normal : french, italian, spannish and portuguese language are all derived from Latin language.

How...Romantic!

[lolo]

I remember them well, from watching TinTin on television as a child! Does "Pond" mean anything in French?

"Dupont", "Dupond" and "DuPont" with a space or not are evolution of the names during ages. For example, during 19th century, my ancestors have get one additionnal L to their name : "galard" to "gallard".

[RSLancastr]

I remember them well, from watching TinTin on television as a child! Does "Pond" mean anything in French?

"Dupont", "Dupond" and "DuPont" with a space or not are evolution of the names during ages. For example, during 19th century, my ancestors have get one additionnal L to their name : "galard" to "gallard".

Yes, many - perhaps most surnames have morphed over the ages.

My wife is a hobbyist genealogist and researched my family line, as a wedding present for my oldest sister. One interesting thing she discovered was that one of my earliest ancestors in America was a Robert Lanquashear when he first immigrated from England, but changed his last name to Lancaster, for unknown reasons.

My wife's mother's maiden name was Bumcrot, a Dutch name which, a few generations earlier, had been Bumcrotz (IIRC)

[Norbie]

Norbie = Norbert

A nick name I got from my friends.

Avatar = Jack Kerouack

My favourite author. I also look a "little" bit like him. Well.... I think so anyway.

Simple.

[montecarlojoe]

[quote="RSLancastr"]...and how tough is it to say "Lancaster"? just pronounce it the way it is spelled, how tough is that?

[*]Lankashear (???)[/list]
[quote]

I kind of expected that one, as Lancaster is a town in Lancashire (county) in the UK.

Pronunciation here would vary between the north and south:

Lan-CASS-ter in the north, and Lan-CAAS-ter in the south.