Names Have Power

I know a lot of people by their usernames and handles. I know a few by their actual names. How will I refer to the people I meet? I’m thinking first names, but that suddenly requires a pretty substantial mental shift. Saying "Hey Melissa" seems a bit strange, as I’m used to seeing the name "MoonDragon" anytime I talk with her. On the other hand, saying "Hi MoonDragon" in person seems equally strange.

Actually, I’m more comfortable with Dustin on a first name basis, and am starting to get there with Melissa. But it’s funny… depending on how we greet one another, by real first name or Internet nickname… that determines the tone of the conversation. And it’s even more interesting now, after I meet everyone, that we have the option to choose which name (and hence, what type of tone) to use.

I can imagine what our dinner conversation will be like on Sunday. All of us WH regulars, chatting about the forum and our collective friends. This converastion, no doubt, will involve the use of nicknames… what will that sound like, I wonder, from the waiter or waitress’ viewpoint?

"Did you see StinkFist’s joke yesterday? I was crying I was laughing so hard."

"jverbal and Extra Lucky are hilarious!"

"Has anyone heard from St. Ego? What about Flak? What’s she up to?"

"Anyone heard how Rasta’s doing? Is he happy?"

"We should all just roadtrip up to Canada. Who all’s up there? Spectre? blacksanta? shreddie? There’s a ton of Danadians, right?"

See, the above sentences make absolute, perfect sense to me. To anyone else who’s not familiar with the forum, its’ gobbledygook.

When I’m home with my family, I tend to slip in between Chinese and English. My parents are fairly comfortable with English, and it’s not too much of a problem communicating. My grandmother, on the other hand, is much more comfortable with Chinese. So when we’re around her, we all tend to speak in Chinese.

Sometimes, when we’re around non-Chinese speakers… I try to take myself out of the moment a bit, and try to listen to the sounds, to just what we’re saying phonetically. It’s a bit like saying your name out loud 20 times in a row… after a while, it ceases to mean anything and just sounds like gibberish. With my family, I could sometimes briefly "turn off" the translation in my head, and only hear the sounds, the tones and stresses, of what each person was saying. No meaning, only sound.

The WH meeting will be one of these moments. The group of us have a very specific language, a core base of how we speak and relate to one another, a set vocabulary and grammar. To anyone else outside of our group, I bet it’ll sound as foreign as Chinese to them.