What is behind your username?

[Le Baron]

There are always so weird and wonderful usernames on forums. Sometimes it's a double bluff and the name looks like an ordinary name which could be that user's name, but isn't.

Mine refers to "Baron Méduse" the eponymous central figure in Erik Satie's absurdist musical play: Le piège de Méduse.

Care to share what is behind yours?

[tastyonions]

There's no special meaning at all behind mine. I lost access to my account on another forum years ago, so I had to come up with a new username and this was what came to mind. Not sure why: I do like onions but they're not at the top of my favorite foods list or anything.

[jeff_lindqvist]

Mine refers to "Baron Méduse" the eponymous central figure in Erik Satie's absurdist musical play: Le piège de Méduse.

I always thought it was Jo(h)n Voight's Le Baron...

[Le Baron]

I always thought it was Jo(h)n Voight's Le Baron...

I'd never heard of that before. I didn't watch Seinfeld enough at the time. Only later.

[Iversen]

My name (and it's spelt with the Danish -sen, not the Swedish -son)

[iguanamon]

Since I live in the Caribbean, iguanas are all around. The ending "mon" is how "man" is pronounced in Caribbean English.

[księżycowy]

For those how don't know Polish, or can't be bothered to look it up, my username means "lunar". I'm not sure why I initially picked it out that particular word, but it seems fitting for those who know me well. I also wanted something specifically Polish.

[lavengro]

My forum name came to me via an episode of an old radio series staring Basil Rathbone, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The episode is entitled The Guileless Gypsy [yeah, I know, but I do not think the term was as perjorative back then as it is now]. Sherlock was assisting a community of Roma wrongly suspected of skullduggery and such, and one of the Roma called him a "true lavengro, a master of words" upon hearing his use of the Romini language.

I expect Anthony Boucher, author of the radio play scripts, picked up the word lavengro from a novel by George Borrows, Lavengro: The Scholar - The Gypsy [yeah, I know] - The Priest. Since I am unlikely to be mistaken for any of those three descriptors, I figured it would provide sufficient cover for my real identity (I needed to replace my old cover name of Clark Kent after moving away from Metropolis, as my cover got blown).

There are some good names on this forum, but in my opinion, the best user name is from the old HTLAL forum: "songlines." I had the privilege of meeting up with songlines for lunch in Vancouver years ago when she popped back from Toronto where she worked at the Toronto Metropolitan Library to visit with some of her family in Vancouver, a few months prior to her very sudden and unexpected passing at far too young an age. She was a very kind person with a huge curiosity about the world, a strong interest in the French language and a gracious soul. I do not recall exactly the words she used when I asked about her user name, but there were along the lines of some of the attached: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songline.

[Raconteur]

My username means "lunar". I'm not sure why I initially picked it out that particular word ... I also wanted something specifically Polish.

I recall seeing your username since Unilang days. It certainly is memorable. Were you learning Polish at the time, or was there another reason to go for a Polish word?

[Raconteur]

Ra·​con·​teur

• As a Francophile, I get to enjoy a moniker that is French, but also intelligible on predominantly English speaking platforms.
• I think it suits me well enough: en général, un raconteur est une personne qui parle beaucoup trop.
• It was the name of my favorite bookstore, a truly magical place.
• And Księżycowy was already taken, jk.