this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2025
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Nominative Determinism

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Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their names. The term was first used in the magazine New Scientist in 1994, after the magazine's humorous "Feedback" column noted several studies carried out by researchers with remarkably fitting surnames. These included a book on polar explorations by Daniel Snowman and an article on urology by researchers named Splatt and Weedon. These and other examples led to light-hearted speculation that some sort of psychological effect was at work.

This is a community for posting real-world examples of names that by coincidence are funny in context. A link to the article or site is preferable, as well as a screenshot of the funny name if it's not in the headline. Try not to repost, and keep it fun!

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[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 35 minutes ago

imagine not having the legal right to pick mushrooms

[–] ZJBlank@lemmy.world 24 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I hope her middle name is Hunter

[–] 4am@lemm.ee 10 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Hey that’s my old password

[–] Obi@sopuli.xyz 10 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

That's why it was taken! Mine was ******2

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 5 points 15 hours ago

Woah, star62 was my password too

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 20 points 18 hours ago

They let her go because she had a multipass

[–] Trilobyte@feddit.uk 8 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I heard her boyfriend's name was Louis Fungi.

[–] Zip2@feddit.uk 2 points 13 hours ago

I think you’re talking a lot of shiitake.

[–] some_dude@lemm.ee 35 points 22 hours ago (4 children)

She totally picked those mushrooms.

[–] punkfungus@sh.itjust.works 7 points 13 hours ago

It's entirely plausible she didn't, even though she found what she was looking for. You've really gotta catch inkcaps early in their life cycle, before they start to deliquesce. Otherwise they're cool to look at but not really good for eating.

But also even if she did pick them, it would not have harmed the fungus in any way. Picking a mushroom is no more harmful to the organism than picking a fruit from a tree is. So long as you use a permeable container like a basket or mesh bag to carry them, you're actually doing the fungus a favour by spreading its spores. It annoys me to no end when uneducated people assume that picking mushrooms is doing damage.

[–] BossDj@lemm.ee 9 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Come on, I don't go anywhere without my foraging basket and mushroom knife. Doesn't mean I intend to forage mushrooms.

[–] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 7 points 19 hours ago

I mean her last name is Gather.

[–] Sergio@slrpnk.net 1 points 20 hours ago

That can only be proven if her middle name is "Robin."

[–] Emperor@feddit.uk 12 points 18 hours ago

I heard it on the radio and thought "I must post that when I get home!"

[–] andybytes@programming.dev 11 points 19 hours ago

Karen snitched

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 23 points 22 hours ago
[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 4 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

For whatever reason, I merged the G in "Gather" , i in "Picker" and "ger" in Forager and with the picture, read "Forager" as "Ginger". Has to double take.

[–] NOOBMASTER@lemmy.ml 0 points 14 hours ago

what the fuck