Nicknames?

[The Wizard of BC]

We have had quite a few threads over the years asking about how members have chosen their usernames.

Mine started when I was in the Apache Instructor Pilot course. I seemed to have a way of explaining complex aerodynamic principals in a way that even a child could understand so I was dubbed Mr. Wizard after Don Herbert of the TV show "Mr. Wizard" fame. I carried the Mr. Wizard callsign for the rest of my career.

When I came up to Canada I started using The Wizard of BC. The BC part coming from British Columbia. A play on words. "Pay no attention to that guy behind the curtain."

I figured it sounded better than the name I was given as Head of Research, Design & Tooling at Current Designs Kayaks. I was the oldest guy in the plant so was given Neandertool,

[tpa]

I too recollect a previous thread on this subject. My nickname is purely name related, at least the one I'll admit to: Alastair > Al > Ali > Tin Pan Alley (I shared houses with a bunch of musicians at university)> tpa (my username) > Tp (nickname).

[sailortats]

Mine is pretty easy to understand if you have seen any pics of me. "Tats"
That is how I am known in the maritime world. Doubt that anyone there even knows my real first name.

[MacEanruig]

During the latter part of my military service I was simply called "Hendo."

[kiltedtom]

As a kid, one of my uncles called me "Snake." I have never known how that came about. Of course, my brother called me "stupid," both as a noun and an adjective. My mother often called me "Casey." I am not sure if this counts here because Casey was our dog, and mom called him Tom. She just could not keep the names straight. In college, I came to be called "Squinty" by my buddies on the Judo team. And now, people call me "Doc." This is because I have a doctorate in History.

Not sure which name I like the best, but I sure do miss that dog. Have a great week.

Tom

[Big Mikey]

Let's break it down then.....Big cause I'm 6'2" and 320 pounds and Mikey from that damn commercial. Been Mikey in one form or another ever since but also answer to Hey You.

[dougez1]

Picked up the nickname "Hoot" many years back due to my last name, though I don't hear it much anymore.

[crash]

Used to road race motorcycles. Got to ride back to the finish line in the ambulance a couple times.

[Geoff Withnell]

Back in the Corps, I was known as "Big Red" Red golden hair and moustache (no beard then, of course, but it used to be red as well). As to the big, I was 6' 1" tall and weighed 250 pounds the day I got out of boot camp without an ounce of fat on my body.

[BoldHighlander]

Well let's see. I've had *MANY* nicknames in my past life. In my "outlaw" biker days my road name was "Terry the Tramp." When I entered the Army, in basic training my platoon called me "Bull" after the "Night Court" character on TV (with a shaved head I was told I looked kind of like him, plus I am tall). My family has always called me "T" or "Big T" (we'll revisit that one later). In my living history days (War Between the States) I did a 1st person impression as Confederate guerrilla Captain Champ Ferguson, and to this day friends connected with that world call me "Champ." During my recent college turn as a student I was called "Chief" (I was in fact the 'chief' or president of the criminal justice club -- quite an about face from my days on the other side of the tracks, eh? ). Finally, a few years back I was involved in the retro hot rod / biker / greaser scene, and I was tagged by my greaser buddies as "Big T," while some Hispanic women involved in the scene dubbed me "Big Papi T." Now its pretty much shortened to "Papi T" -- I answer to either that, "Papi" or "T".

As for my XMTS username: BoldHighlander here is a post I made in a similar thread many moons ago:

BoldHighlander --
this goes back to when I first got a computer and had to come up with an email account.
Tried many, most taken, so my mind went back to a scene from my favorite Scottish themed film 'Rob Roy' (1995). The scene is after young Macdonald has been murdered and the money stolen by the fop Cunningham. Robert Roy Macgregor is seen approaching by the Marquess of Montrose who is having his portrait painted:

"Ah, here comes the Bold Highlander.
No @rse in his breeks
but too proud to tug his forelock."

That phrase, the Bold Highlander has forever been burnt into my mind, and as I favor Highland rogues (like Rob Roy) and have been called a rebel & a rogue myself, well....

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Another of my favorite lines from 'Rob Roy':

Montrose:
"You are damned, McGregor.
Damned to hell."

Rob Roy:
"Come, Your Lordship.
Leave the devil some work."