Job Discussion Forums

[xiaoyu]

will.

yeah, think that your info is correct as to where "nickname" originates from. nicking used to be used to refer to picking pockets.

xiaoyu

[yaramaz]

'yaramaz' was the word I used more than any other last year. It seems to sum up my experience in Turkey... Not only does it mean 'naughty' or 'useless' in Turkish and was handy for disciplinary purposes, but it is also the name of my cat (she found me, I didnt seek her out). I named her yaramaz because she got me in so much trouble with the care taker in my apartment building because she was always using his wife's plants as a lovely leafy toilet.

My avatar isCalvin of Calvin and Hobbes- the ultimate in yaramaz-dom. I wanted to use Attaturk in all his rosy Wizard of Oz glory but I had a feeling that the turkish government might deport me for such a disrespectful act--- not a good idea to link their national hero with the term best used for crazy kids.

Re: nicknames... the term derives from the middle english term 'eke' names- but I forget what an 'eke' is-- probably an alias.

[SweetOne]

Main Entry: 1nick�name
Pronunciation: 'nik-"nAm
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English nekename additional name, alteration (resulting from misdivision of an ekename) of ekename, from eke eke, also + name name
Date: 15th century
1 : a usually descriptive name given instead of or in addition to the one belonging to a person, place, or thing
2 : a familiar form of a proper name (as of a person or a city)

[MELEE]

I used to go by MEL on the old forum because I didn't want to be obviously male or female. But SOMEONE ESLE registered the name MEL nearly a year after I'd been using it unregistered. I had never felt the need to register a name (this was the old forum) but then this other MEL posted something about Mexico and I thought he or she could probably get me in trouble (or people would just assume I had a split personality) So I had to pick something else. I also decided that it was probably pretty obvious that I was female--more so now that I mention my husband. His family call me Meli, short for Melissa. I kind of like that but didn't know if English speakers would pronounce it the same way as Spanish speakers, and thought, it's like Mel Lee, then when I saw that it clicked---MELEE!!!!
Confused or not under control. That is Mexico. I thought it went well with my opinion that to live sustainably in Mexico for an extended period of time you have to be able to accept that many things are not under control--at least not yours.


As you see I have no avatar---I think they are a bit silly, but enjoy looking at everyone else's so maybe I should take the plunge. I must say that I would never have chosen Capergirl's for myself

[chinagirl]

I actually picked my name on a whim. I may go to China someday, but I've actually not been there yet! I've worked in other countries, including Japan, which is why I picked my Avatar from the movie, "Spirited Away."

I think I wanted my name to sound good, but not give away too much about me. I'm still concerned about Internet privacy.

[Wolf]

"Wolf" is my honest to God Chinese name.

I was teaching at a private company called "Pathetic Marketing Ploy English" (Okay it wasn't called that, it just was that.) This was only about two months after I had arrived, and my vocabulary was limited to about 20 words or so.

My students asked for my Chinese name. I tried to explain that, being non-Chinese I didn't have one. Undaunted, they demanded I choose one, and refused to help. So I chose "lang" - wolf - because 1) I'm often mistaken for dangerous when empirical research shows that this just isn't true 2) I travel far and wide in search of my next meal and 3) I function better in small groups.

They didn't like the name. But they refused to give me a new one. To this day no one has given me a better Chinese name, so it stands.

The avatar?

the older one was obvious I think.

The new one is a character from a Japanese animation movie - who was raised by wolves.