I hate when people refer to super heroes by their "real" names

[bdcjacko]

It is a pet peeve of mine, and unless you are discussing their secret identities or clarifying you mean Hal Jordan over Kyle Rayner or Peter Parker and not Ben Reilly while discussing the clone saga or whatever. That I am fine with because you got to.

But I was just having this conversation about the avengers movie that is up coming. And dude was all like I wish Hank Pym was in it. I'm not a fan of the avengers and have no idea who anyone is besides the big names like Ironman, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk. After a quick look, I find out Hank Pym = Wasp. I am vaguely familiar with Wasp so now I know I guess. But it really just chaps my ass when people "show off" by not only knowing who the minor characters are but act like they know them personally by calling them by their names.

discuss

 

[Kolby Jack]

People often unknowingly (or knowingly) use meta-messages about subject matter they are familiar with to establish superiority over those they know are not familiar with said subject matter. It's annoying, but everybody does it at some point. Just point it out and hope they didn't mean to.

I learned that from Home Improvement.

And for the Lanterns, I'd say referring to them by their names is mostly okay because there are several different human Lanterns. But yea, not only is referring to super hero's by their real names stupid, it's a good way to get branded as a huge nerd (but not the good kind).

 

[funguy2121]

It is a pet peeve of mine, and unless you are discussing their secret identities or clarifying you mean Hal Jordan over Kyle Rayner or Peter Parker and not Ben Reilly while discussing the clone saga or whatever. That I am fine with because you got to.

But I was just having this conversation about the avengers movie that is up coming. And dude was all like I wish Hank Pym was in it. I'm not a fan of the avengers and have no idea who anyone is besides the big names like Ironman, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk. After a quick look, I find out Hank Pym = Wasp. I am vaguely familiar with Wasp so now I know I guess. But it really just chaps my ass when people "show off" by not only knowing who the minor characters are but act like they know them personally by calling them by their names.

discuss

How do you feel about Escapists endlessly referring to games by using acronyms? I find this to be so much more annoying, but for the same reason. At least with comics, this usually indicates that the fan cares about the character and not just the (often uninspired) superhuman abilities or spandex costume. With games, it's usually either laziness or snootyness, or both (as though how many different video games one has played while others are out putting their hands on women were something to be snooty about). KOTOR, DNF, COD, TF2, and those are just the more simple ones. It took me a couple of threads to figure out that MLP:FiM referred to the new My Little Pony show.

Escapists: not everyone owns the same console/setup as you. There are PC gamers, rabid MMORPG fans, FPS purists, XBox-only gamers, Wii owners, casual gamers, PS3 owners, people who still only have platforms from the last gen, and people who only buy 3-4 games a year because they have shit going on in their lives. Please don't assume we've all seen whatever acronym for whatever game a few times and know exactly what you're talking about, especially when you don't even explain in the OP. And please don't assume we know what anime or fantasy novel you're referring to, either.

"Do you think Shelalah should have gone with BenDougDoug?"

Well, do you? I mean, Chu-Thu was so much better for her, but he was a demon. So I guess I'm on Team BenDougDoug. Eff Chu-Thu!

Poll: BenDougDoug or Chu-Thu?

-BenDougDoug
-Chu-Thu
-Apply the tourniquet above the knee.
-Sideways
-I liked it better when Danny was still directing episodes."

This is a common enough occurrence. Is not a big reason why we are all here to share the wonderful, geeky gems we've discovered with each other, and discover new ones? How are we to do it when we have no idea who Chu-Thu is?

 

[Radeonx]

Well, in certain situations (Such as Green Lantern, because there are at least 4 that I can name off the top of my head from Earth) it is fine, but normally it is just annoying.
Even when differentiating between Green Lanterns I don't use their names, I'll say the "first one" or the "Black one" or something like that.

 

[TetsuoKaneda]

It is a pet peeve of mine, and unless you are discussing their secret identities or clarifying you mean Hal Jordan over Kyle Rayner or Peter Parker and not Ben Reilly while discussing the clone saga or whatever. That I am fine with because you got to.

But I was just having this conversation about the avengers movie that is up coming. And dude was all like I wish Hank Pym was in it. I'm not a fan of the avengers and have no idea who anyone is besides the big names like Ironman, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk. After a quick look, I find out Hank Pym = Wasp. I am vaguely familiar with Wasp so now I know I guess. But it really just chaps my ass when people "show off" by not only knowing who the minor characters are but act like they know them personally by calling them by their names.

discuss

Ermmm...OP, I hate to dissemble like this, but Hank Pym is known simply as Hank Pym. Or occasionally Ant Man, depending on what else is going on. Wasp is his wife, whom he at one point raped.

Also, in a more on-topic sense, it doesn't bother me. I think it's really the choice of the person doing the referring, and if I want to know something, I'll ask about it. If they're a dick to me for asking them to clarify, chances are I'll either back off, or they're usually a dick and I'll know to leave them alone.

 

[TheLastTatlFan]

I personally only do it when there's more than one character who goes by the title. So mainly just with the various Mega Man protagonists, for me.

Classic: Rock
Mega Man X: X
Mega Man Zero: Zero
Mega Man Legends/64: Volnutt
Battle Network: Lan/Netto, Megaman.EXE/Rockman.EXE
Star Force: Geo/Subaru, Omega-Xis/Warrock (Much more badass in Japanese, in my opinion.)

How do you feel about Escapists endlessly referring to games by using acronyms? I find this to be so much more annoying, but for the same reason. At least with comics, this usually indicates that the fan cares about the character and not just the (often uninspired) superhuman abilities or spandex costume. With games, it's usually either laziness or snootyness, or both (as though how many different video games one has played while others are out putting their hands on women were something to be snooty about). KOTOR, DNF, COD, TF2, and those are just the more simple ones. It took me a couple of threads to figure out that MLP:FiM referred to the new My Little Pony show.

Escapists: not everyone owns the same console/setup as you. There are PC gamers, rabid MMORPG fans, FPS purists, XBox-only gamers, Wii owners, casual gamers, PS3 owners, people who still only have platforms from the last gen, and people who only buy 3-4 games a year because they have shit going on in their lives. Please don't assume we've all seen whatever acronym for whatever game a few times and know exactly what you're talking about, especially when you don't even explain in the OP. And please don't assume we know what anime or fantasy novel you're referring to, either.

"Do you think Shelalah should have gone with BenDougDoug?"

Well, do you? I mean, Chu-Thu was so much better for her, but he was a demon. So I guess I'm on Team BenDougDoug. Eff Chu-Thu!

Poll: BenDougDoug or Chu-Thu?

-BenDougDoug
-Chu-Thu
-Apply the tourniquet above the knee.
-Sideways
-I liked it better when Danny was still directing episodes."

This is a common enough occurrence. Is not a big reason why we are all here to share the wonderful, geeky gems we've discovered with each other, and discover new ones? How are we to do it when we have no idea who Chu-Thu is?

On the part about the acronyms, I could not agree any fucking harder.

Although the bit about discussion topics I don't really agree with. I doubt many people making topics asking questions about specific series are looking for the view-point of people unfamiliar with the work. This is especially true of shipping topics (ZeLink FTL.)

 

[bdcjacko]

@fungguy2121 that doesn't bother me that much but I understand how that could grind your gears.

 

[badgersprite]

I kind of have a rule with this. If I think of the superhero identity as their "real identity" or how they would identify first and foremost, I refer to them by their superhero name, eg Batman. If I think of their normal, everyday, human identity as their real identity, then I identify them by their real name, eg Ralph Dibny.