Mine was chosen for me as a reaction to a silly indiscretion on my part. I signed a newsgroup post with my title "Historian, Pennsylvania State Chess Federation" beneath my name. And for years this is what I endured:
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"As noted, every reader on this forum understands that "The Historian"
refers not to exceptional status enjoyed by The Historian but to the utter
pomposity of someone who would arrive on this forum by referring to a
meaningless title and who will not simply say, "Okay, that was a pompous
gesture. I really ought to laugh at myself a bit more because I would then be
less laughable."
Readers know the phrase, "The
Historian," appertains because The Historian is a pompous nit.
Readers are aware that I titled one rgcp participant, "The Historian," because
he appeared here signing himself as the historian of the Pennsylvania State
Chess Federation in an exercise of absurd pomposity. My point was that the
phrase, "The Historian," is a way of pigeon-holing a prancing nit. The phrase
was an exercise in irony. [Another poster] argued that I misrepresented the rgcp
participant's self-description which was, in one instance, "Historian PSCF."
The point was that Our Historian only thinks of himself as a historian rather
than as "The Historian." I said bunkum to that. The phrase, "The Historian," was clearly meant as an
exercise in irony -- whether withering or heavy-handed was and is up to the
reader to judge.
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There's a lot more, but more only means louder in this case.
Well anyway, after a couple of years I adopted the screen name "The Historian" and jokes stopped. I'll let you folks determine if I've stopped being a pompous, prancing nit.