Dream? Stream? whatever.

November 24, 2007 6:59 PM

How many other people took 2-3 years to notice that "odinstream"'s screen name is, in fact, odinsdream?

And how many of you just noticed that right now?

posted by poweredbybeard to MetaFilter-related at 6:59 PM (164 comments total)

I had no trouble with that one, but I invariably parse croutonsupafreak as "croutons up a freak."
posted by danb at 7:06 PM on November 24, 2007 [7 favorites]

What the fuck y'all.
posted by dhammond at 7:08 PM on November 24, 2007 [2 favorites]

Or "Dirty Num Bangel Boy"...

All of which could have been avoided by judicious use of capital letters, or a handful of underscores.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:10 PM on November 24, 2007 [2 favorites]

Thats never happend to me.

Also: I frequently read your username as poweredbybread. But, I'm hungry a lot.
posted by tracert at 7:10 PM on November 24, 2007

I always knew.
posted by jessamyn at 7:13 PM on November 24, 2007

Dude, put down the bong.
posted by mkultra at 7:13 PM on November 24, 2007

MY MIND HAS BEEN BLOWN.
posted by empath at 7:14 PM on November 24, 2007 [3 favorites]

I read Blazecock Pileon's username as "Blazecock
Pee-Lay-On" out of force of habit, as a data point.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 7:16 PM on November 24, 2007

Oh man, until now I had been seeing jessarnyn. Wtf.
posted by 31d1 at 7:16 PM on November 24, 2007

O! The snark. I am slain.

Hey, I was just curious, and I'm not gonna spend all these MeTa tokens before the fares go up. (Besides, I feel somewhat vindicated by Google). Plus I thought thought we could use a breather from the shitstorm a couple of threads down.

I frequently read your username as poweredbybread.

Hm. I smell sockpuppet.

Incidentally I used to read bugbread's name as bugbear.
posted by poweredbybeard at 7:22 PM on November 24, 2007 [2 favorites]

I see Blazecock Pigeon. Always did, til just now.
posted by Pants! at 7:34 PM on November 24, 2007

I thought "these penises are alarmed" was actually "these premises are alarmed" for a long time. Then I realized that it was.
posted by puke & cry at 7:37 PM on November 24, 2007 [2 favorites]

All of which could have been avoided by judicious use of capital letters, or a handful of underscores.

It's not too late. I discovered the other day that if you log out - I know, that's crazy, but hear me out - you can log back in successfully while capitalizing or de-capitalizing your username at leisure.
posted by TwoWordReview at 7:40 PM on November 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

More importantly: Odin was a god revered by the Vikings. Dream is the second part of the username. Need I say more?
posted by AwkwardPause at 7:41 PM on November 24, 2007

Anyone else remember getting Gilgamesh by summoning Odin in the fight with Siefer in lunatic pandora? Good times.
posted by puke & cry at 7:45 PM on November 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

I read Stan Chin as Stanchion. MadameJuJube?
posted by Eideteker at 7:47 PM on November 24, 2007

I always read "mathowie" as "math-owie" and picture someone saying "Math?? Owieeee!!!" while grabbing their head in pain after trying to do some mental calcuations.
posted by null terminated at 7:52 PM on November 24, 2007 [4 favorites]

null terminated, slap me five. That is how I read math-owie too, pained by numbers.
posted by madamjujujive at 7:57 PM on November 24, 2007 [6 favorites]

The first time I ever typed a very prolific user's name, I mistakenly added an "s." Thus: languageshat.

I didn't notice until someone pointed it out later in the thread. Unfortunately, its permanently engraved in my memory now.
posted by googly at 7:58 PM on November 24, 2007 [2 favorites]

Omniwise.
posted by Mid at 7:59 PM on November 24, 2007

In fact, now that I re-read it, it was pointed out immediately under a comment by...odinsdream!

Coincidence? You be the judge.
posted by googly at 8:00 PM on November 24, 2007

I always thought XQUZYPHYR was XUQZYPHYR.
posted by mattbucher at 8:06 PM on November 24, 2007 [8 favorites]

hi
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:08 PM on November 24, 2007 [9 favorites]

*dies*

I confuse loquacious and liquorice sometimes.
posted by divabat at 8:10 PM on November 24, 2007

"Dave's not here!"
posted by ericb at 8:20 PM on November 24, 2007

Wow... I always read odinstream, too. And Eidecker.
posted by maryh at 8:21 PM on November 24, 2007

It's pronounced beTAchat. And the "ch" is like in "loch".
posted by felix betachat at 8:21 PM on November 24, 2007

It's not too late. I discovered the other day that if you log out - I know, that's crazy, but hear me out - you can log back in successfully while capitalizing or de-capitalizing your username at leisure.

Holy cow, you're right!
posted by dreamsign at 8:25 PM on November 24, 2007

aw, but it always shows the same way in type
posted by dreamsign at 8:25 PM on November 24, 2007

holy crap

holy crap

there are crickets coming out of my eyes
posted by brain_drain at 8:32 PM on November 24, 2007 [5 favorites]

Matt called me 'stravos' for literally three or four years until I finally explicitly corrected him (and some people still do). Guess they never met any Greek people before.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:33 PM on November 24, 2007

Mine is pronounced mare-ee hfuhruhurr, but I understand the confusion.
posted by maryh at 8:33 PM on November 24, 2007 [5 favorites]

*pages sushiwithinjury*
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:41 PM on November 24, 2007

Mine is pronounced A Stro Zombie.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:43 PM on November 24, 2007

I always knew.
posted by poweredbybeard at 8:49 PM on November 24, 2007

Dang, I guess it is too late then.
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:49 PM on November 24, 2007

math owie
posted by Reggie Digest at 8:54 PM on November 24, 2007 [3 favorites]

Whoops, I lied -- it was 'starvos', which makes marginally more spooneristic sense.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:55 PM on November 24, 2007

Mine is pronounced mare-ee hfuhruhurr, but I understand the confusion.

I just want it known that I support our Zombie-American mefites...
posted by pupdog at 8:55 PM on November 24, 2007

I'm so glad someone else had the "math...OWie!" problem.

And I take great pleasure in hearing the word "ecks-quiz-if-her" in my head.

And something offensive to zombie pygmy nuns.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:56 PM on November 24, 2007

and how many of us don't care??
posted by matty at 8:56 PM on November 24, 2007

dammit, null terminated...
posted by Reggie Digest at 8:57 PM on November 24, 2007

and how many of us don't care??

No, the real question is how many of you don't care but will still take the time to comment.
posted by poweredbybeard at 8:59 PM on November 24, 2007

I was almost 40 before I realized that "The Beatles" is spelled that way because Beat is a pun on, you know, the beat, like music and all that?

I felt really stupid until everybody I told that to said, "Wait? What? Oh my God, I never realized that before!"
posted by not that girl at 9:02 PM on November 24, 2007 [10 favorites]

I was recently called out on calling Ethereal Bligh "Ephereal". Or the other way around. Damn, I'm still confused.

And I used to call Paris Paramus "Parasmus".

Sorry to say it, but nobody remembers " spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints" as anything.
posted by wendell at 9:05 PM on November 24, 2007

Thed Eej.

I typo'd when I signed up.
posted by The Deej at 9:07 PM on November 24, 2007

Math Owie
Madame JuJube
Styx-no

A new one today was thinking Lazaruslong is "Lazaruschlong," can't wait to see that sockpuppet. Also, I tend to confuse many members with each other, including krrrlson and klangklangston.

I regret my username not having caps ie: SassHat because of the dreaded s-h-a-t letter combo.
posted by SassHat at 9:12 PM on November 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

Yeah, but have you ever looked at odinsdream's user name... ON WEED????
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 9:12 PM on November 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

I always read it as puke & fry. Oh wait, that's me.
posted by puke & cry at 9:12 PM on November 24, 2007

Dude, we have not had pancakes in too long. Could I get jalapeno corncakes, plz?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 9:13 PM on November 24, 2007

Parsingisfun.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:20 PM on November 24, 2007

My last name is "Geduld," which I know looks odd (it means patience in German). My family pronounces it phonetically, like Ged-uld (sort of rhyming with head-cold). Because people have trouble with it, when someone asks me my name -- say for a medical form -- I always say it really slowly and then spell it. I'm go so slow, I'm condescending:

"What's your last name, sir?"

"It's Ged..." (pause) "...uld. GED ... ULD. That's G-E-D..." (pause) "... U-L-D."

But no matter how slow I go, and no matter how much I over-annunciate, the person winds up saying back to me...

"G-E-U-L-D?"

"No, not G-E-U. It's G-E-D. G E D U L D. GED-ULD."

"OH! G-E-U..."

"sigh..."

This has happened to me for decades. I used to think all these people were stupid. Now I realize that there's something about the letters in my name that naturally creates cognitive dissonance. Whatever it is, I'm too close to it to see it. But I wish my last name was Jones.
posted by grumblebee at 9:26 PM on November 24, 2007

People call me 'KokoRyu', but whatever.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:34 PM on November 24, 2007

That happens to me too, grumblebee. People can't seem to accept how easy my name is.

It's B-L-U-N-T. Blunt.

"B-L-O-U-N-T?"

No, Blunt. B-L-U-N-T.

"B-O-U-N-T?"

And so forth. Pretty much every day. The L sounds like an O when I spell it out, no matter how deliberately I articulate it.
posted by hermitosis at 9:51 PM on November 24, 2007

How do you not say, "You know, like cunt, but with a BL."

They'd never forget your name after that.
posted by ColdChef at 9:59 PM on November 24, 2007 [7 favorites]

WHAT
THE
FUCK
POWDEREDBABYBEARD?
posted by loquacious at 10:06 PM on November 24, 2007 [9 favorites]

I still see it as Dirty Numb Bagel Boy.
posted by Bugbread at 10:17 PM on November 24, 2007 [8 favorites]

I get peacy or peacey a bit. I've heard a few people see 'peace' in there and I know some read it as "peace-ay".
But it's the phonetics of my initials, PK, just by the by..
posted by peacay at 10:21 PM on November 24, 2007

Metafilter: the real question is how many of you don't care but will still take the time to comment
posted by regicide is good for you at 10:23 PM on November 24, 2007 [3 favorites]

YES! YES! I see the bagel too! I am not alone!
posted by XMLicious at 10:25 PM on November 24, 2007

I always read "bagel boy" too. I usually picture him as delivering baked goods with a 1950s soda-jerk hat on.
posted by jamesonandwater at 10:29 PM on November 24, 2007

Wait, you mean it's not bagelb...
Oh. Huh.

I learned two things today.
posted by poweredbybeard at 10:32 PM on November 24, 2007

peacay writes "But it's the phonetics of my initials, PK, just by the by.."

Whoa! I've always read it right (as "peacay"), but mentally pronounced it wrong ("pee-say").
posted by Bugbread at 10:33 PM on November 24, 2007

Only someone entirely powered by bread could make such a mistake.

I'm guessin' it's 'cause your synapses have been clogged up with all that frikken gluten.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 10:46 PM on November 24, 2007

It was an American-Australian member, WebGoddess, who first told me about that pronunciation thing bugbread and I think I've seen on here or in email a few times a couple of others with the same idea. I've wondered if there isn't a natural difference of tendency between American and British english to see 'c' more softly than 'k' or the somesuch. To me it was a 2-word thing.....pea and cay.
posted by peacay at 10:55 PM on November 24, 2007

I constantly get people thinking my user name is quip, and I'm like, "no, it's completely different. 'quip' is with a U and mine is with a W. See?" And they're like "yeah, quip with a U" and I'm like, dude that's not it at ALL!" and they're like "chill" and I'm like "you chill. What if I changed all the U's in your name to a W?" and they're like, "What a loser". And I'm like, "un-uh". And they're like "Whatever" and I say, "don't you mean Uhatever?"

And then I get hit in the nose.
posted by qwip at 11:26 PM on November 24, 2007 [14 favorites]

Oddly enough I pronounce peacay correctly, but it is math-owie. Ain't no getting around that.

I knew it was odinsdream, but croutonsupafreak just confuses me. Croutons are good, but not good enough to freak about.
posted by deborah at 11:29 PM on November 24, 2007

Only someone entirely powered by bread could make such a mistake.

You're just trying to get a rise out of me.

In other news, I'm going to start misreading people's names on purpose. Misreading them as words I don't know how to spell properly.
posted by poweredbybeard at 11:30 PM on November 24, 2007

Good luck with me.
posted by cgc373 at 11:57 PM on November 24, 2007

May I state that I am not the capital of Australia? Thank you.
posted by Cranberry at 12:17 AM on November 25, 2007

It's Pee Ess Measly! I don't care WHAT anybody says!
posted by katillathehun at 12:34 AM on November 25, 2007

+1 for bagelboy
posted by Reggie Digest at 12:55 AM on November 25, 2007

also: powderedmybeard
posted by Reggie Digest at 12:58 AM on November 25, 2007

katillathehun said: It's Pee Ess Measly! I don't care WHAT anybody says!

That's how I always interpret it too! And I think I've even spelled it with a "measly" at the end when replying to posts. (sorry psmealey)
posted by amyms at 1:15 AM on November 25, 2007

P.S. to katillathehun: Whenever I see your name, I think of my uncle's cat, who was named Attila the Honey.
posted by amyms at 1:17 AM on November 25, 2007

I always read these names correctly but they're way funnier when they are wrong, so I'm gonna go with reading everyone's names wrong from now on.
posted by angeline at 1:19 AM on November 25, 2007

null terminated: I always read "mathowie" as "math-owie" and picture someone saying "Math?? Owieeee!!!" while grabbing their head in pain after trying to do some mental calcuations.

I'm pretty sure that null terminated was being facetious, but I'm not actually sure that those people agreeing with him are... I think they're just not in on n.t.'s joke. Ahem...
posted by hincandenza at 1:45 AM on November 25, 2007

wendell: Sorry to say it, but nobody remembers "spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints" as anything.

Every once in a while when someone says "spike" my brain immediately completes it as "spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints"

Oh... and it's ma-THOW-ie... or Ma Thowie, either way.
posted by Kattullus at 1:56 AM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

I thought nickyskye was nicky-styks.
posted by delmoi at 1:59 AM on November 25, 2007

amyms, I always read your name as "admins", so I'm always confusing you with jessamyn.
Yes, I'm a loon, I know.
posted by maryh at 2:07 AM on November 25, 2007

First, +1 on the Bagel

Second, it was only at his 2:30 am post that I actually saw that it was "beard," and not "bread."

Third, y'all with the math + owie have maybe seen this, but from his profile:

I have a difficult-to-pronounce last name. Actually, that's not true, it's easy to pronounce, it's just that no one can do it correctly, given the mish-mash of consonants and vowels handed to them.

Anyway, when it was time to get my first shell account and email address in college, I wanted a phonetic version of my name, to remind people. It was an old VAX system, and had a max character limit of 8, so I couldn't get "matt_howie" or "matthowie" and instead had to smash it down to "mathowie." I thought it was self-explanatory, but I more often heard "Math Owie? Is that like some sort of algebra injury?" But no, it's just "Matt Haughey," spelled phonetically, and crammed into eight letters.

posted by Alt F4 at 2:22 AM on November 25, 2007

My last name is "Geduld"

With a last name like that, you have to have it.
posted by atrazine at 3:13 AM on November 25, 2007

Shouldn't this be on metachat?
posted by Catfry at 4:57 AM on November 25, 2007

Thesis: Reactions in this thread will tend to vary by when (late night/small hours vs. morning with coffee) it is read.

For example, someone coming to this thread at around 8 am (EST) might tend to see this thread as an elaborate socio-psychological group experiment designed to elicit differing reactions and commentary based on the specific time (small hours/late night vs morning with normal stimulants).
posted by mmahaffie at 5:00 AM on November 25, 2007

...(ahem) ...specific time that readers first encounter this thread.

Needed more coffee
posted by mmahaffie at 5:05 AM on November 25, 2007

I always thought "and hosted from Uranus" was a play on "your anus", like, it was coming out of your ass. But now I see it is just the name of a planet.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:00 AM on November 25, 2007

I read Blazecock Pileon's username as "Blazecock
Pee-Lay-On" out of force of habit, as a data point.

In my head, "Pileon" rhymes with "billion."
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:10 AM on November 25, 2007

It's pronounced beTAchat. And the "ch" is like in "loch".
posted by felix betachat


Hahaha, what a kidder!




Keith




posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:17 AM on November 25, 2007

I was playing TF2 the weekend I got it (meaning: I sucked,) and some jerkwad was giving me grief (because: I sucked,) over voice chat and kept pronouncing my username sear-RAH-know with a heavy, nasally emphasis on the second syllable that jarred my ear. I think he thought I meant serrano, as in the chili or maybe the ham, and couldn't spell. Also, he was a jerkwad.

And I still suck.
posted by Cyrano at 6:37 AM on November 25, 2007

Surely "cyrano" should be pronounced with as much nasal emphasis possible?
posted by Reggie Digest at 7:27 AM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

I was almost 40 before I realized that "The Beatles" is spelled that way because Beat is a pun on, you know, the beat, like music and all that?

In 4th grade (in 1994-ish) I wrote a report on beetles, the insect, only I spelled it "beatles" throughout the entire report. That came back with so many red marks, and I just didn't understand why. I still have no idea if my teacher thought I was touched in the head or awesome.
posted by piratebowling at 7:39 AM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Surely "cyrano" should be pronounced with as much nasal emphasis possible?

Touche.
posted by Cyrano at 7:49 AM on November 25, 2007

"I was almost 40 before I realized that "The Beatles" is spelled that way because Beat is a pun on, you know, the beat, like music and all that?

In 4th grade (in 1994-ish) I wrote a report on beetles, the insect, only I spelled it "beatles" throughout the entire report. That came back with so many red marks, and I just didn't understand why. I still have no idea if my teacher thought I was touched in the head or awesome."

When the Beatles first came to the U.S., there were posters hung all over saying "The Beatles Are Coming". A woman I know says she had no clue who the Beatles were, or how to pronounce it, so she ended up thinking the "Beet-Luhs" (her pronunciation) were coming. Oddly enough, that didn't make sense to her either.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:06 AM on November 25, 2007

My partner's first name is really unique (she is the only person on THE WHOLE INTERNET with it) but also very easy to spell and say. She has so much trouble getting people to spell and say it correctly.
posted by arcticwoman at 8:15 AM on November 25, 2007

A woman I know says she had no clue who the Beatles were, or how to pronounce it, so she ended up thinking the "Beet-Luhs" (her pronunciation) were coming.

The first time I went to visit my college girlfriend and her family on Lon Gisland, I looked at the highway sign for PATCHOGUE and thought it was "pat-choe-gay" because I'd spent way too much time around ex-Spanish placenames in Florida.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:38 AM on November 25, 2007

Hey spike.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 9:20 AM on November 25, 2007

People constantly fuck up my last name in real life. I'm glad I went with such a straightforward handle.
posted by cortex at 9:22 AM on November 25, 2007

I agree with you, cotex.
posted by found missing at 10:03 AM on November 25, 2007 [3 favorites]

thx, pound kissing.
posted by cortex at 10:15 AM on November 25, 2007 [2 favorites]

My name was meant to be "round trip", but I typoed.
posted by trip and a half at 10:31 AM on November 25, 2007 [2 favorites]

I am a lover of books, NOT a tricksy hobbit, thank you very much!

Also, I have frequent MeFi related dreams, and one feature of them is that I always, always pronouce Matt's name wrong. If I say "Matt Howie" it turns out it's really "Matt Holly" or something ridiculous.
posted by Biblio at 10:37 AM on November 25, 2007

pained by numbers
Man, I used to love those things. I did a couple of landscapes and one portrait of a horse.
posted by GrammarMoses at 10:59 AM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Her Mitosis, be glad your last name contains no silent Ws, as mine does. It's like people have never seen the word "lawyer" before.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:06 AM on November 25, 2007

It's Bangel Boy, people. He's in love with Susanna Hoffs.

And he can't spell.
posted by Sk4n at 11:27 AM on November 25, 2007

I was almost 40 before I realized that "The Beatles" is spelled that way because Beat is a pun on, you know, the beat, like music and all that?

I had no idea. I do know how the name of the bug is correctly spelled, but somehow I just never made the connection (or disconnection).

But then I also thought that Seattle was in Oregon until I was about 25, when someone told me that it was actually in Washington. Then I vehemently argued that there must be TWO Seattles until I went home and looked it up.

Oh no - am I going to kicked out for saying that?
posted by Evangeline at 11:28 AM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oh, and to get back on topic, my last name is Blankenship, which is pronounced exactly as it's spelled, but people still have trouble with it. Inexplicably, I've gotten "Blankenfish" (I guess maybe it was a stream of consciousness error - you know, ship - sea - fish). I've also gotten "Blankenshit", which I'm pretty sure was done with malice aforethought.
posted by Evangeline at 11:32 AM on November 25, 2007

Evangeline, you're not related to any Blankenships in Massachusetts, are you? I went to school with a few memorable Blankenships so I know the name.

My name people repeat back to me pronounced different from how I'm saying it. I know it's unusual and I say it slowly but people think it's jessaica or jezebel and I'm saying it, to them, in front of them they still repeat back something different than the sounds coming out of my mouth. I've always found it a bit odd.
posted by jessamyn at 11:55 AM on November 25, 2007

Evangeline: What is now the state of Washington was formerly part of the Oregon territory. When they invented Seattle with its snooty attitude and all of its traffic problems, we cut them off.
posted by Cranberry at 11:56 AM on November 25, 2007

Evangeline, your last bit reminded me of this: I wrote most of an always-to-be unfinished master's thesis on Walt Whitman, and all the way through I kept accidentally typing his name as Salt Shitman, which is one of those weird things that makes me laugh uncontrollably every time I see it.
posted by not that girl at 12:01 PM on November 25, 2007

Whenever I see It's Raining Florence Henderson, my brain goes Tits Maiming David Hasselhoff. God knows why, but it's an extremely satisfying image.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:08 PM on November 25, 2007 [2 favorites]

So funny, not that girl! I have a friend who is an English professor. He told me that one of his students wrote a paper about Angus Wilson, but throughout the paper spelled the author's first name "Anus".

My friend marked the first instance with an asterisk, and wrote in the margin, "means asshole".
posted by trip and a half at 12:09 PM on November 25, 2007

Jessamyn, there are a surprising number of Blankenships out there, but supposedly they all descended from nine Scottish brothers who settled in Georgia. This is according to my father, the man who also occasionally claimed we were descended from Vikings, so I take it with a grain of salt. There was also a Blankensop Castle in Wales, and some Blankenships say we have Welsh ancestry.

At any rate, my father had nine brothers who migrated to lots of different states, and when I was just a teenager the cousin count was up to thirty-two, so god knows how many are out there now, and I'm betting some of them are in Massachusetts. The Blankenship clan is nothing if not prolific.

I'm adopted, so technically I'm not related to any of them.

What is now the state of Washington was formerly part of the Oregon territory. When they invented Seattle with its snooty attitude and all of its traffic problems, we cut them off.

I KNEW it! Vindicated at last!
posted by Evangeline at 12:27 PM on November 25, 2007

For what it's worth, peacay, I always pronounce your name correctly in my head when I see it now!
posted by web-goddess at 12:49 PM on November 25, 2007

I work for an answering service. My name is Kat. 99% of the time, people calling in call me Pat. Others they come up with are Karen and Carol. Occasionally, Kit. Very rarely, Kathy.

I have problems with Am I in a name when it's not properly capitalized. I used to read safeami as Safe Amy and amidaniel as Amy Daniel. They were actually Safe Am I and Am I Daniel.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:50 PM on November 25, 2007

I have a professor friend who read her class roster a little too literally. She thought that two students, listed as Vijay Nolastname (for example) had the same last name. She pronounced their last name in class as Nol-ast-nam-ee, with the accent on the second syllable. She was very embarrassed when they politely corrected her and the rest of the class burst out laughing.
posted by langedon at 1:01 PM on November 25, 2007

Bagel Boy.

And (god knows why) Peace Mealey
posted by jaruwaan at 1:55 PM on November 25, 2007

My name's actually europanto for "And And The" and pronounced obviously "eeeayyyyiiieee."
posted by yeti at 2:21 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

My real name's Jim, which you think would be easy, but for some odd reason everybody calls me "Oi, dickhead!" I have never worked out where the confusion arises.
posted by Abiezer at 2:39 PM on November 25, 2007

I read Dirtynumbangelboy right until someone called him dirty numb bagel boy, and, since that is funnier, I have used that instead ever since.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:40 PM on November 25, 2007

WCityMike thinks I'm some other kind of eroticist.

Many people think I have some kind of fetish for our little slippery friends. But I meant it as being like an otter, not liking otters. At least not that way.
posted by ottereroticist at 2:56 PM on November 25, 2007

I thought you had an otter fetish, but I didn't find it strange at all. They're freakin' adorable.
posted by Evangeline at 3:04 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

my god, can't you people read!!!!!!!!!
posted by HuronBob at 3:13 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

When I see the alias poweredbybeard I think of a speedy motorboat with a big bushy red beard powering through the water. heh.
posted by Skygazer at 3:40 PM on November 25, 2007 [2 favorites]

When I see the alias poweredbybeard I think of... that actor... we aren't supposed to mention anymore...

sorry i brought it up don't sue kthxbai
posted by maryh at 4:02 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

dillon is my real first name but you will not believe how many people add and extra I - to make it "Dillion" which just sounds stupid. Seriously, like upwards of half. Why create extra letters? I don't get it. Sure, if Dillion was a type of exotic fruit or some sort of sitcom or even a legitimate spelling.. They even got it wrong on the roll at highschool.. good times :|
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 4:04 PM on November 25, 2007

Dillon, was this before Nathan Fillion became a geek heartthrob or since? Because between previous heartthrob actor Matt Dillon and iconic TV character Marshall Dillon, I would never make that mistake myself.

But then, I rarely had people misspelling my name until that hiphop song "Mr. Wendal" came out.
posted by wendell at 4:11 PM on November 25, 2007

hah. that's the first person i know who has heard of marhsall dillon -i was named after him and mat dillon, back when he did westerns. awesome :) I think i'll have to go look these characters up, wen-dog..
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 4:19 PM on November 25, 2007

What I find most interesting is the seeming tendency of Mefites to subvocalize.

Or, read the Internet aloud.
posted by pineapple at 4:29 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

What the hell is a Pin Eapple?
posted by Skygazer at 4:53 PM on November 25, 2007

It's Pi NE Apple, like New York, but with more math...
posted by pupdog at 5:31 PM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

I used to think that The Beatles were so-called in order to be self-deprecating in a punny way. The Beatless.

Also, I assumed for a long time that 'Sol LeWitt' was a pseudonym because it was so fitting for a minimalist artist. Brevity is the Sol LeWitt. I still can't believe that there are hardly any Google hits for that pun.
posted by painquale at 6:06 PM on November 25, 2007

When I was an undergrad, I used to earn extra money by typing papers for other students. (Yes, on a typewriter. I am very, very old.) My first job was for an architecture major, who'd apparently written an entire paper about some guy named Mies van der Robe.
posted by dogrose at 7:17 PM on November 25, 2007

never read a word, Hurlin' Bob.
posted by mwhybark at 8:07 PM on November 25, 2007

Until last year I thought Dada was the name of an artist. There was a Dada exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, and I told my friend I wanted to go because I'd never seen any of Dada's work.
posted by Evangeline at 8:21 PM on November 25, 2007

Brevity is the Sol LeWitt.

And people wonder why I named my blog WendellWit.com, since I am NOT the soul of brevity. But my last name is Wit-tler.

And I won't even go into the thousands of times people have tried to inject an "H" after the "W" in my surname. I almost got myself a personalized license plate that said "NO H 2TS".I wonder how that would've been misinterpreted.
posted by wendell at 10:32 PM on November 25, 2007

You know who else misread names? Wittler...

And I always thought it was BugBeard. My creepy-romantic image of some insectoid pirate has been dashed forever.
posted by pupdog at 10:59 PM on November 25, 2007

Okay, I give. Long as we're here:

How do you all say cillit bang?

Am I the only one who sees 1f2frfbf and thinks "ah, a post by '1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish'" as if that were his/her actual username?

I read ROU_Xenophobe as "R U a xenophobe?" And, no.

I read Forktine as if it rhymes with Ovaltine, even though I know what a tine is.

My brain simply can't compute "oneirodynia" to subvocalize even if I wanted. Comes out something cacked like "oh-NAIR-oh-dye-ah." Totally misses that other N.

I read It's Raining Florence Henderson as if it were raining men.

I too read it "Madam JuJuBe" (and occasionally I think faintly, "Isn't there supposed to be a star there?" but then I'm not sure why I think that. And then I get that weird feeling like when you lay down at night and the sensation of being in the same position as you were when you first woke up reminds you vaguely of the dream you were having this morning.)
posted by pineapple at 12:03 AM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Am I the only one who says "Exquisopher" as in sort of Exquisite+Christopher for XQUZYPHYR? Probably.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:41 AM on November 26, 2007

I pronounce XQUZYPHYR as exQUIzifur.
posted by Kattullus at 12:48 AM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Squeezy fire, for me — like lighter fluid on Labor Day weekend.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:40 AM on November 26, 2007

A photo company managed to mangle "Tiara Shafiq" (my name) as "Piara Shahida". Goodness. I know my handwriting's bad, but it can't be THAT awful.
posted by divabat at 1:43 AM on November 26, 2007

How do you all say cillit bang?

SILL-it bang. Is there another way?

Am I the only one who says "Exquisopher" as in sort of Exquisite+Christopher for XQUZYPHYR? Probably.

I pronounce XQUZYPHYR as exQUIzifur.

I thank the both of you; I always stumbled on what looked like an unpronounceable mess of consonants, and now I will be able to mentally pronounce it.
posted by languagehat at 7:22 AM on November 26, 2007

While it's spelled "BozoBurgerBonanza", it's actually pronounced "Throatwobbler Mangrove".
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 7:36 AM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

What do ya'll think of Eaton Payst? I'm feeling like regalness will be the fashion in socks this season and like to be out in front of the trends so I'm thinking of pulling the trigger.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 7:49 AM on November 26, 2007

I always read decathecting as DECK-uh-THEKT-ing, until somebody used the word "decathect" in a relationship-filter AskMe a few weeks ago. Now it's my new favorite word.
posted by vytae at 8:22 AM on November 26, 2007

Excuuuse-a-fur. And mee-fie, dammit.
posted by cairnish at 9:20 AM on November 26, 2007

I pronounce XQUZYPHYR as "excuse" plus "zephyr." Rhymes with "Lucifer."
posted by kirkaracha at 9:23 AM on November 26, 2007

I pronounce XQUZYPHYR as XUSLKFSLUDFWADLFJSL.

-Skyga Zer
posted by Skygazer at 10:34 AM on November 26, 2007

I've always pronounced XQUZYPHYR as "Ex-cue-you... oh, fuck it." I'm happy to have some pronunciation possibilities now.
posted by arcticwoman at 10:36 AM on November 26, 2007

It's Pee Ess Measly! I don't care WHAT anybody says!

For some reason, I always parse "PMS easy"
posted by fermezporte at 1:10 PM on November 26, 2007

I'm happy to have some pronunciation possibilities now.
posted by arcticwoman

Nothing doin'. Arcticwoman is basically just arcticwoma. But if it's any consolation I have an image of a hot Eskimo woman sheathed in ice crystals, and wearing a bikini fashioned out of the fur of a woolly mammoth.

Amirite?
posted by Skygazer at 1:19 PM on November 26, 2007

I always thought it was "glistening_giblets" until I realized it was, in fact, "glistening_giblets."
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 1:31 PM on November 26, 2007

Apparently my decipherer just goes haywire when several words are mashed together. When I scan dirtynumbangelboy, I somehow jump ahead to the end, and then backfill to try to make sense of all the letters I just saw. I always read it as Dumb Nirty Angle Boy. I don't know why, but I still can hardly manage to read it with "dirty" in front of "numb". Those two words are definitely out of order. I don't think I would have any problem with numbdirtyangelboy.
posted by team lowkey at 1:43 PM on November 26, 2007

Sometimes people call me brian.

Well, they don't, but they might some day.
posted by brain_drain at 2:48 PM on November 26, 2007

I say XQ-cypher and ND-money.

I felt like I once understood the meaning of sidhedevil's username but then I forgot it again.
posted by jessamyn at 3:39 PM on November 26, 2007

IIRC, 'Sidhe' is an Irish word, pronounced like "she" (or close enough), so there's a bit of a joke there: shedevil.

Via some googling, it might be a further play on the Daoine Sidhe, some sort of spirits/fairies of the mounds.
posted by cortex at 3:49 PM on November 26, 2007

'e's surely right, y'know. Not just a pretty mod!
posted by Abiezer at 4:08 PM on November 26, 2007

But if it's any consolation I have an image of a hot Eskimo woman sheathed in ice crystals, and wearing a bikini fashioned out of the fur of a woolly mammoth.

Amirite?

Only when I'm on Metafilter. I dress down a bit for work.
posted by arcticwoman at 4:10 PM on November 26, 2007 [2 favorites]

I just got that "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?" joke. RIGHT NOW.

aaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhhhhh
posted by tehloki at 7:53 PM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

arcticwoman? I read it as anticwoman.
posted by wendell at 10:27 PM on November 26, 2007

It's Excuse-iffer, of course. Whether that's pronounced as noun excuse or verb excuse, I leave to you.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:58 PM on November 26, 2007

Am I the only one tho sees "Tacos Are Pretty Damn Good" as I Love Tacos"?
posted by Balisong at 11:43 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

This is according to my father, the man who also occasionally claimed we were descended from Vikings

Literally?
posted by dersins at 12:25 PM on November 27, 2007

Which reminds me of another name I always misread: teleskiving.
posted by team lowkey at 3:07 PM on November 27, 2007