Digression on words

[Alan_b]

Apology for a previous post:
I have had a message of complaint regarding something I wrote earlier in this thread ( edit by maggi _ it was in the Mailorder snowdrops thread)with regard to selling on eBay.  I hope this was partially due to a misunderstanding, so I will attempt to clarify.

Many eBay users (but by no means all) don't buy and sell under their real names but use the online equivalent of a nom de plume ('pen name').  For want of a better word I referred to such a nom de plume as an 'alias' (I included the inverted commas).  Alias was a bad choice of word, both because it has negative connotations that I did not mean to imply and because there are instances where sellers do use their real names and I did not mean to imply otherwise.  I'm sure there is a correct word for the names we call ourselves when using eBay (or indeed when using a forum such as this) - but I cannot bring it to mind.

My apologies for any offence caused; this was not my intention.


Edited to correct misprint 

[Maggi Young]

  I would have thought that the  most obvious Englishword for nom de plume is  :  alias 

But of course you might have said :  an assumed or additional name
otherwise known as,   nickname, byname, cognomen, epithet, handle, moniker ,soubriquet ........

What a pity someone took offence Alan- I thought it clear none was meant. It is a statement of fact that such pseudonyms are used, is it not? 

[RichardW]

Good grief 

Nothing wrong with the word at all, and using quotes as you did should make it clear what you meant, and so no connotations.

[WimB]

Does "Alias" have negative connotations in English?? We use it in Dutch too and it's a neutral word....

[Maggi Young]

Does "Alias" have negative connotations in English?? We use it in Dutch too and it's a neutral word....

It can do - if it is used in  the same  sentence with  the word  criminal. It's just a word!

[RichardW]

It can do, but so can others.

Some do choose to not identify themselves as individuals or nurseries, what ever their reasons as such it's an alias.

[Alan_b]

Oh dear, I did not mean to provoke a debate, nor to reveal the identity of the complainant as they contacted me privately.  Suffice to say that I can see how what I wrote was misconstrued and I'm sorry for it.  Of the alternative suggestions Maggi gave, I like 'nickname' best as that seems a neutral to friendly term.  I'll use that in future, should I have cause.   

[johnralphcarpenter]

If it's online, isn't it called a "nickname"?

[Alan_b]

It is by me, henceforward.

[Maggi Young]

If it's online, isn't it called a "nickname"?

An example of how words are seen differently by different folk in different contexts - I always regard  nicknames as  names that are given to us by others  - but they're all just words.

[Hans J]

I have to same say like Wim -  Alias is here in Germany a neutral word -no Problem !

Hans

[emma T]

Isn't it just like having a username ? People on Facebook who know me my middle name isn't really Stormaggedon , though I wish it was lol

[Alan_b]

Oh Emma, you disappoint me - I thought the baby named himself after you!  But now I see it's becoming a name for the atrocious weather we are experiencing.  Nobody wants to be named after a wet winter.  See http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-weather-stormageddon-wettest-winter-3123399

[hwscot]

'nick', 'username', and 'ID' would be the most common online, I would think .. isn't it just the same as on here or any other forum? 'avatar' usually means the pic, but I've seen it used to refer to the nick too, such is the looseness of modern usage, bring back Fowler and .. [text obscured by froth]

H

aka Haitch, Haitchman, Lowfied (it's a Leeds thing), papageiscot (I was in Germany, I used to breed parrots, it's an embarrassment .. maybe 'embarrassment' is an alternative to nick or ID, for those of us who don't already use the word for a spouse, if not for several spouses .. or spice). Aren't we all a bit mad, honestly, on here?

[David Nicholson]

...................................................Aren't we all a bit mad, honestly, on here?

Well, it helps!