Meme Comment #1

[psubrat]

From gokuma...

Apparently my nickname in Polish means "dog's brother". That's pretty neat, though I'm a cat person. If you do a literal translation on a Polish to English site, it can also mean scoundrel or bastard, but gokuma has assured me that it's not used in an offensive way nowadays. I think I like the dog's brother meaning better. *g*

For those who are new to my friends list, this is the story behind PSUbrat:

I went to Penn State University for four years for my bachelors degree so when I needed to come up with a screen name for AOL, I wanted to incorporate my school spirit into it. That was 1995 -- I chose PSUgirl. When I found IRC, I hung out on Efnet's #Pennsylvania. I was one of the youngest ones there and was henceforth known as Brat. I changed to PSUbrat and it stuck. In fact, I used this nick all through my time in the Buffy fandom and all of my fics are written under it.

I kept the name when I came here, but because LJ doesn't use capitalization for journal names, people became confused and didn't know how to pronounce my nick. Hence the reason I've put up the "How to Pronounce My Name" bit in my user info.

So there you go. Penn State University Brat. That's me.

Comments

[10zlaine.livejournal.com]

i guess i always knew it was pronounced psu_brat, but in the very beginning i didn't know what psu stood for.

now, my user name, i guess i never even considered how it was thought to be pronounced until Herself told me what she thought it was - ten zlaine.

for the record, i say it ten-zee-laine, which was one of those dorky nicknames i gave my niece, mackensie laine - it probably evolved something like kensie laine/mensie laine/tensie laine...

...but i suspect i may be the only one who says my handle that way!

[psubrat.livejournal.com]

I was so close to pronouncing your nick right! I kept adding another 'A' before the 'L' -- cause I can read.

I actually wish more people would do pronunciation posts for their nicks, it would save me a lot of heartache trying to figure out how to say them. :)

[the-rice-girl.livejournal.com]

Being from PA, I just sort of assumed your name was pronounced "P. S. U. Brat", so it's all good. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm spikendru's daughter and we met at PhauxCon several years ago. I remembered you as being a delightful person, and when I've been home for visits, my mom has shown me pictrues of your adorable little boy. In any event, I got her S1 of Torchwood and we watched it together and both got hooked. She showed me the newer ones she had been getting from you so she doesn't have to wait until S2 comes out on DVD (although, I'm pretty sure she has them pre-ordered already!) and just wanted to let you know that my girlfriend and I are also hooked now, so we very much appreciate your taking the time to post the eps. soon after they air, rather than having to wait a whole year! Thank you again.

Hugs and snuggles,

Lena

[psubrat.livejournal.com]

Hi Lena!! I totally remember who you are! Welcome to the chaos that is my journal. :)

The Pennsylvania people on my FL totally get my nickname, but a lot of people unfamiliar with PSU have pronounced it "sue"brat. I think it was someone at a convention who did that and it prompted me to do the "How to pronounce my name" bit on my profile page.

I'm so glad you, your mom and your girlfriend are enjoying Torchwood!! It's one of my favorite shows so I'm happy to be spreading the love! Oh, and don't forget, the current season is airing on BBC America as well -- about 2 weeks behind the BBC in the UK. I think you may need to have digital cable in order to get BBCA, but at least it's an option if you want to watch it more. *g*

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

You mean, there are people who don't know what PSU is?

;)

I almost got "PSU GIRL" as my vanity plate, but then picked BNL GRL instead. My ex boyfriend I dated in college was oh-so-original and for a while he used psualum2k2.

[psubrat.livejournal.com]

I have been so tempted to get a vanity plate with PSU BRAT on it, but my husband sometimes uses my car when he refs soccer games -- college as well -- so he doesn't want anything that comes across as bias. It can be a pain at times, but oh well. So, we've compromised. I'm getting a Flyers plate for my Altima! YAY!

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Being the math geek that I am, the first time I saw "psubrat" I read it as p-sub-rat, or p_rat. I know that p can stand for pressure, power or the distance between an object and a lens, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the subscript represented.

I can't remember when I first figured out that it was really PSUbrat, but it was a *facepalm* moment.

[psubrat.livejournal.com]

LOL! I think that's the most creative misinterpretation of my nickname that I've ever heard! Go you!

I can't remember when I first figured out that it was really PSUbrat, but it was a *facepalm* moment.

Dude, I think we've all had one of those moments with LJ nicknames. :)