triticale - the wheat / rye guy

Nicknonymity

First, my name is...not important. It's not a secret, but I'm not going to put it out here for reasons that are my own. Slartibartfast explained it perfectly. I'm not trying to conceal my True Name; I'm trying to establish a unique identity. My name is not my identity. As my father, who changed his own name during the Depression, when being too obviously Jewish made it harder to find work, liked to say, I don't care what you call me, as long as you don't call me "Late For Dinner".


Among other issues, one of the people who shares my name is a second tier celebrity. This resulted in a lot of teasing during his fifteen minutes. Even the judge who tried me for the worst crime I was ever charged with, driving on a license I didn't know had been suspended for a technicality resulting from someone's data entry error, had to get in a dig. This way all I get is Star Trek references. I never got into the show, never saw the episode in question, and in any case, "quatrotriticale" is redundant, since the plant, a mule cross of wheat and rye, is already polyploid.


If I were representing myself as Elihu Kenwood or as Felix Krull I would be pseudonymous. If I were using a nickname, temporary or permanent, and then hiding behind a dead email address, as some trolls do, I would be effectively anonymous. Because my identity is clearly a nickname, but is solidly an identity, I prefer to describe myself as nicknonymous.