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 5 points 1 day ago

imagine not having the legal right to pick mushrooms

[–] ZJBlank@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I hope her middle name is Hunter

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

Hey that’s my old password

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

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

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 5 points 1 day ago

Woah, star62 was my password too

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago

They let her go because she had a multipass

[–] some_dude@lemm.ee 40 points 1 day ago (4 children)

She totally picked those mushrooms.

[–] punkfungus@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] some_dude@lemm.ee -4 points 13 hours ago

You're the chick from the article aren't you?

[–] BossDj@lemm.ee 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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 8 points 1 day ago

I mean her last name is Gather.

[–] Sergio@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 day ago

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

[–] Emperor@feddit.uk 14 points 1 day ago

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

[–] Trilobyte@feddit.uk 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I heard her boyfriend's name was Louis Fungi.

[–] Zip2@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think you’re talking a lot of shiitake.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 1 points 13 hours ago

Amanita you two to calm the fuck down!

[–] andybytes@programming.dev 11 points 1 day ago

Karen snitched

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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 1 day ago

what the fuck