What Inspired Your Name?

Must be totally unimaginative. It's my name.

Just found this thread. So many interesting stories! And beautiful pets!

missingrosie - I know how you feel. We lost one of our dogs last Fall and I still cry when I come across a picture of her. She was perky, always getting into mischief, a lot of fun, and was my constant companion since I retired. I miss her.

Well, here's my story: For many years, whenever I said or did something crazy I would often say, "I know...I'm a mess!" At some point it occurred to me that those were my initials (minus one S), so it's a double entendre: "I'm a MES" and "I'm a mess!" I capitalized the I and M because when I typed "imames" it looked like it meant "I'm Ames."

Most DGers address me as Ima when they reply to one of my posts. Even though my name is Maria, I've kinda gotten to where I like being addressed as Ima...sort of my special DG name. :-)

Yep, I know what you mean Ima. I answer more to Smiley than Julie nowadays.

Love it!! I should open another account with ImaWreck as my screen name! My husband suggests ImaNuts (he says it sounds more italian!)

or ErrHead.
Coming from one who dropped her keys in the garbege can two nights ago--and thankfully fished them out yesterday.
People don't realize that any DG name may be shortened--like critterologist to critter LOL . I agree its kinda fun to have your DG nickname.

What a great story! Love the initials, too, but think I'll just call you "Ima" :-)

Ha, ha, ha. You guys crack me up! I could be ImaWreck or ImaNuts, too. LOL

sallyg - I liked your verbena name idea. I could change mine to sedum spurium - short, round, and spreading. Ok, I'm not really short... but I am round and spreading! LOL

avianut - Ima is just fine by me!

I had a good friend that is a member of this site tell me my nickname would be a good one for Daves Garden and he added TN to it. I've had the nickname Boopsie since 1980 (my name is not Betty) that's when I started collecting Betty Boop and our local newspaper came out a few years ago and did a story about my collection (I had a half page about me and my friend, Betty). My huge living room is wall to wall of items and when I was younger and didn't have gray hair I was told that I even looked like Betty and talked like her. When my kids lived at home they would always tell their friends the living room was the Betty Boop museum. My grandkids are NOT allowed in Betty's room at all-but what will happen to my expensive, huge collection when my number comes up and its time for me to leave this world? I have made friends all over the world by selling Betty items on ebay and some of them stay in touch on a daily basis.

This message was edited Jun 24, 2010 4:28 PM

Ima--good choice. If I had it to do over, I could probably pick "Dingbat" and it would stick.

Boopsie--my DH lies Betty Boop, but he never collected!! I don't think you will have a problem finding people who will want your collection. It seems to be as much a coveted icon as Barbie dolls and old pop bottles.

Thought I done answered this question somewhere LOL. I picked out several names and they were all taken, so after getting mental fatique I just started typing in stuff. So guess my name speaks volumes. Nut love the birds lol Hey Smiley! Good to hear all the great name stories! MR you clicked on the right topic for sure.:-)

Yes, it's fun to read all the stories.

Love the Ima thing! Mine was a combo prior to marriage....Miller & Wigley

millwig - I like that!

And you had two choices ......coulda been wigmill!!

either is creative and millwig *is* more euphonious. :-)

Well it definitely might describe a profession had it been reversed!!!

Mine would have been Simba! ^_^

I've used Ketta for almost 10 years as my online 'handle'. It's a shortening, originally, of ketamine, a drug used on animals as a tranquilizer. It used to be used on humans for the same purpose, but not much anymore in most countries (except for psychotherapy research). I used to work for a veterinary clinic, and I felt so bad for the cats and dogs during their recovery from waking up from a ketamine/valium combo for surgeries....I felt bad because the looks on their little faces made me want to laugh....poor critters.

I've always liked the shortened name, and it no longer has much reference to poor, big-eyed recovering pets. However, a few years ago I was doing some research in Norse history and found that 'ketta' was a nickname often given to pet cats. Since I have a huge soft spot for cats...well, why change it? :)

good story, ketta. :-)

Really good.

Any Slo Gin Fizz ('s) out there? I get a laugh out of my coworkers' little faces (mostly plastered and those not plastered are amazed) at the annual Christmas bash (I should say past bash because with liability laws and buget tightening it has been a few years since the annual holiday soiree.)

My screen name came from the fact that yeah, I'm one of those ophidiophile wackos :). I do love my creepy critters, and the word just popped out of my mouth one day while talking to friends. Like 'gropacetic' (proper use: "Sorry, sweetie, but I am just not feeling gropacetic at the moment.") it was immediately understood, in this case to mean "just like a crazy cat lady with a house full of figurines and toys, only with snakes".

The snakes in question were named using an online Inuit-English dictionary. Qanuk (the male) means Snowflake, and Nevluk (the female) means Clinging Snow. Qanuk is a lovely but unexceptional snake, while Nevluk earned her name because she likes to find the quickest way to a comfy spot and just hang on. The corn snake I had longest was an Okeetee morph (found in the vicinity of the Okeetee Hunt Club in N Carolina) who got his name from a sci-fi/fantasy cinema classic. For what I paid, I expected about a foot and a half of snake; when I opened the bag on the way home and just kept pulling out more and more snake--he was, in fact, close to twice the size I expected--all that popped into my head was a line from our recently-purchased copy of Heavy Metal: "Huh. No hair. Big!" I quoted it, my then future now ex-hubby busted up laughing and the snake was Den of Earth for the next 11 years and a major hit on the sci-fi convention circuit especially. He was one of few snakes to ever make it as a daily feature on pet of the day dot com, back in 2004 or '05 I believe, and even though this fall will be 3 years since I had to euth him due to tragic results of an accident I still cry missing him some days.

The pic below was our 2005 Christmas e-card.

I wish I were more tuned in to snakes. I know the ones visiting my yard are good for it, so I leave them alone. But, in my area of the country, too many are somewhat, um, hostile to coexistence so we tend to be wary neighbors. :-)

snakeadelic- very fun! thanks for the story, And sorry for your loss.

This message was edited Jul 16, 2010 9:10 AM

opened the bag..on the way home... Oh, I would need some 'leaping' room for sure.... I am assuming you were in a moving car.


I try (I really do) (like yesterday when there was a big snake taking some sun on the top step going into the house) but cannot feel anything close to comfort around snakes. That being said - please accept my condolences for your loss. It sounds like you lost a buddy.

missingrosie, that he was--I put the whole story in the "mourning" thread in the Pets forum. If there had been anyone in the (yes, moving) car who was at all uncomfortable with snakes, the bag would not have opened. I've always taken a small bit of pride in having a very strong "just cuz I love 'em does NOT mean anyone else has to" ethic, which is why old Den had a designated traveling bag. Until & unless I had cleared the ENTIRE line-of-sight area, he did not get to come out and play because I don't believe in frightening people that way. I have an active and vivid imagination, and I know *exactly* what would happen if I turned around and someone next to me had a live spider out to play! (hint: you'd need a crowbar and about nine strong men to detach me from the ceiling, and a LOT of windows would be getting replaced after I tested out just how much like Jamie Lee Curtis I could scream!)

Now I am not real fond of spiders but could easily get real close to one!

Snakes?? I've always been fascinated and yes, wary of them. But it's cool how some folks get attached to reptiles. Great story, snakeadeliclic, and screen name. I just like their skins and patterns. I totally freaked out when a salamander came out of the sink in the basement.

Wow..I just found this and have had a great time reading the stories and admiring all the wonderful animals being shown off! I am a snake fan..have loved them since I was a kid, trying to mimic my older brothers and brought home a hog-nosed snake for my mom to admire (which she REFUSED to do! how rude!)

My name is pretty simple..when I first found DG, I wasn't thinking about putting a garden related name in here. My late husband and I are both Scottish descent and I have an email account with this name (and some numbers added for security) so I went with that. Now that he's gone and it's just me, I think about changing it..but I've been on here long enough that I would really confuse some of my DG friends if I did :)

My only pet is a tortoiseshell cat.. we picked her up at a garage sale in Oklahoma City 2 years ago on Serenade Drive, so I called her Sarah. But as she got a little older and I realized what an attitude and sense of entitlement that she has, I knew that she needed more.. so everyone, please say hello to Miss Sarah :)

What a beauty!! and with an attitude too!

My buddy (her last name Tulloch) goes to the Highland festival here in NC mountains and lots of the clans come and wear their tartan plaids.

Chris, yep, you can tell she is MISS Sarah. :-)

My last name is Hamilton and, should I ever travel overseas again, Scotland is the first place on the itinerary.

Debra

Wow! Definitely "MISS" Sarah! What a beauty- such green eyes! Definitely 'above' a garage sale find! Give her HUGS FROM nEBRASKA!

Ahem...that should be "catitude".

GRIN -good one kwanjin

Sounds like a good screen name too.

LOL... I agree with both of you :) And thank you for all the kind compliments, everyone! She is a very odd cat.. growls when someone comes to the door, but runs and hides under the bed BEFORE I can even hear the rumble of thunder that she heard.

lovemyhouse, I gotta giggle...Hamilton is also the name of the town I live in, and my last ex-husband (I'm a repeat offender, sigh...) was Scottish enough by pedigree to wear Hunting Stewart and mean it, or so he claimed.

Debra Hamilton?!?! My DM's maiden name is Hamilton. Her father was born in Scotland, near the firth of forth (sp?), in East Lothian. Do you think we could be related?
btw - by marriage I'm not a MacKenzie ^_^

I took back Hamilton after my divorce. It was mine a lot longer than the other one. :-) Should have paid more attention to the famous holders of the name when younger. Had a store clerk tell me once I could have the $10 bill back if I could tell him the name of the person pictured on the money...um, well, okay, I dunno...oops. Only mitigating factor is that I was 11 at the time. Sure haven't forgotten it since!

Could be related, I like to think most Hamiltons are to one degree or another. :-) My ancestors left Scotland early and moved to Ireland. Some of them emigrated to the U.S. in 1848 and eventually settled in Michigan, then my grandfather moved to South Bend, Indiana when he married our grandmother. What we always thought was fun is that our dad's paternal uncle was John Hamilton, also known as Red Hamilton or Three-finger Hamilton. He used to rob banks with John Dillinger. Members of my branch of the Hamiltons do seem to have a knack for picking the losing side. LOL Although, my uncle swears up and down that he and his dad visited Uncle John in Canada in 1952. He's always been compos mentis, so I want to believe him...

Debra

In 1952....... My grandpa was James Hamilton, and he came over by himself when he was only 18 yo. He married Edna Reddaway, and they lived in Manitoba, Canada.
There were lots of Reddaways in Ontario that are my relatives.

holy cow, maccionoadha - I'm going to have to contact you regarding a new Cubit I'm creating re: Gaelic...... names, recipes, traditions, etc!! It's still "in the works" and I'd better get busy on it!!!