XiXiDu comments on How to Save the World - Less Wrong

73 Post author: Louie 01 December 2010 05:17PM

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Comment author: XiXiDu 04 December 2010 12:08:08PM *  7 points [-]

I came up with that nickname at the age of 16 (in the year 2000). It is supposed to be a random sequence of letters that is pronounceable in German. A search gave no results, hence I naively suspected it to be unique. Only much later I learnt that many sequences of letters humans are able to pronounce do also bear a meaning in some language. Last year I learnt that xixi means piss in Portuguese. Some native English speakers also asked me if it is supposed to mean sexy dude. But I can assure you that I never intended my nickname to signal a sexy dude who takes a piss and casually tries drugs. I was rather annoyed that many nicknames were already taken when I tried to register with various services. I also wanted to be uniquely identifiable. It pretty much worked, as almost all of the 46.100 results of a Google search for xixidu are related to myself.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 04 December 2010 01:00:26PM 1 point [-]

How do you pronounce your nickname?

I'd vaguely assumed the name was Chinese, with some presupposition that you were, too.

Comment author: XiXiDu 04 December 2010 02:09:10PM 4 points [-]

Ksicksiduh - but I prefer to go by my real name (Alexander Kruel) when it comes to vocal communication.

I've never been Chinese. It wasn't my intention at all to sound Asiatic. I looked at an instant messenger avatar of a Rubber duck when that particular sequence occurred to me.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 04 December 2010 02:24:07PM 3 points [-]

Thanks-- I pronounce people's names in my head when I'm reading.

"Xi" is a letter combination that shows up in English transliterations of Chinese. That, plus your saying that English isn't your first language, was what gave me the false impression.