Game: Explain Your Nickname, easy, eh? Options

[Sabbattack]

Ok, this is not a forum game per se, but wtf!!

The rules are simple. Explain in a few words what your nickname means and why did you choose it. I'll start:

Sabbattack: Sabbat + attack

I'm a big fan of the 80's thrash band Sabbat, and since Martin (the band's frontman) is known for his great use of english idioms and puns, i made this one myself to honour him!!!

[ladygorb]

lady - I hope thats obvious ... gorb = goddess of radiant beauty - a nickname given to me by Centrics friends after I slapped them all upside there head for calling me MILF

[NickTheGreek]

Very simple : NickTheGreek stands for the most cunning and briliant card player of all times... he was a notorious Greek immigrant to the States who even won playign against the leader of the local Mafia.. when his mighty opponent kapt blaming his own luck, NickTheGreek suggested they pull a card from the card deck and if it was red he won;otherwise the Mafia leader would... his opponent was not so brave or self confident to try...

He only sent flowers to NickTheGreek funeral years later with the quote :
[Success is a wine that not all drink from; but those who drink always try to get sober ...[/quote]

NickTheGreek estimated that he won and lost over $500 million in his lifetime. He himself claimed that he went from rags to riches over 75 times. A man who never respected money, he donated over $20 million (about $400 million in 2004 dollars) to education and charity.

I share the same name with him, the same passion for certain clever card games and certainly the ability to win in most of them

if you like this story, read full details from

CODE

www.wikipedia.org

Nick the Greek

Nicholas Andreas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos (born in Rethymnon, Crete 1883-December 25, 1966) was a professional gambler and high roller.

Dandolos was the son of wealthy parents. He attended the Greek Evangelical College and earned a degree in philosophy. When he was 18 years old his grandfather sent him to the U.S.A. with an allowance of $150 per week. Although Dandolos settled down in Chicago he eventually moved to Montreal where he began gambling on horse races.

Dandolos was known throughout his life for winning and losing large
sums of money. After winning over $500,000 on horse racing, he moved
back to Chicago where he lost it all on card and dice games. He quickly
became a master of these games, however, and became a prime attraction
at casinos when he would play in them.

In 1949 Dandolos once played with Johnny Moss in a five month long poker marathon where the two played virtually every game that existed at the time. The game, set up by Benny Binion,
cost Dandolos anywhere from $2 million to $4 million. At the end of the
marathon, down millions of dollars, Dandolos uttered what has become
one of the most famous poker quotes ever, "Mr. Moss, I have to let you
go."

One urban legend claims that Dandolos once had the opportunity to escort Albert Einstein around Las Vegas. Thinking that his gambling friends may not be familiar with him, Dandolos allegedly introduced Einstein as "Little Al from Princeton" and stated that he "controlled a lot of the action around Jersey."

Nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman also met Nick the Greek, according to the autobiographical Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!.
Nick explains how he wins big not by playing the tables, but by knowing
the odds at the tables and betting against others who have
superstitious beliefs about the outcome. He then relies on his
reputation to bet against others.

At the end of his life Dandolos was broke and playing $5 limit games in Southern California. When asked by a fellow player how he could once play Poker for millions and now be playing for such a small amount, Dandolos supposedly replied "Hey, it's action."

He died on Christmas Day in 1966 and was a charter inductee of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

It's estimated that he won and lost over $500 million in his
lifetime. He himself claimed that he went from rags to riches over 75
times. A man who never respected money, he donated over $20 million
(about $400 million in 2004 dollars) to education and charity.

A book by Ted Thackrey was published in 1968 titled Gambling Secrets of Nick the Greek.

A novel about Nick's life was written by Harry Marks Petrakis in 1978 titled Nick the Greek.

[Spartacus]

SpArTaCuS the Thracian Gladiator .... slave or an idealist?


Spartacus was born in Thrace, became a soldier, and was captured by the Romans. He was sold as a slave to be made a gladiator. With 70 comrades, he escaped, hid on Mount Vesuvius, and raised a large army of rebel slaves. With his army he defeated two Roman legions. Spartacus intended to lead the slaves over the Alps and out of Italy, but the slaves forced him to march on Rome. A fresh Roman army under Crassus finally defeated Spartacus and his men. After his defeat, 6000 men were crucified along the Via Appia as a warning to other slaves.

Slavery had become an important part of Roman life. They became rampant as the patricians became lazy and rich after the spoils of the Wars of Expansion reached Rome, and prisoners of war became a source of free labour. In the latter part of the 1st Century BC, war and piracy maintained a constant stream of slaves into Rome. Roman society had also degraded, as a result of the popularity of blood sports, especially gladiator fights (munera). It seems that the Romans utilised slaves and prisoners as fodder for the gladiators and lions in the arena. Some slaves even managed to have the privilege of being trained as a gladiator. One such person was Spartacus.

As a young Thracian, Spartacus worked in the fields of his homeland. Somehow, he ended up serving as a Roman auxillary in the legions. He deserted, and upon recapture was demoted to slavery. During his slavery, he was sent to Capua, where he underwent training as a gladiator. In 73, he led a group of several other gladiators and fled the gladiatorial college, capturing Mount Vesuvius. Slaves in nearby regions were suddenly motivated to fight for their freedom, and they readily joined his band. With swelling numbers, Spartacus' force overrun much of Campania and Lucania - defeating the minimal opposition sent by Rome. Despite having a following of around 70 000, Spartacus knew that the well-equipped and numerous Roman legions would easily suppress his ragtag band if the Romans decided to make any sort of effort. He suggested moving beyond the borders of the province of Italia, perhaps to the Alps, but the Gauls and Goths vetoed this decision, prefering to terrorise Italian villages for money and goods. Spartacus was forced to remain in Italy, and moved south to avoid unwanted attention from the legions.


It took the most part of a year for the Roman Senate to decide that Spartacus was a threat to internal security. In 72, the Senate ordered the consuls to crush the slave revolt. Surprisingly, the consular armies were defeated three times - separated and united. Spartacus continued to push his men to the north, defeating the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul at Mutina. His plan to escape into Gaul was again thwarted by his men who did not wish to leave Italy. With such stubborn troops, Spartacus probably decided to escape to Sicily, and moved southwards.


The Roman Senate was disgusted by the incompetence of the consuls and proconsul, and placed Crassus in command of six legions. Despite not holding any magistracy or office, Crassus was the only competent (or proven) general who was in Italy at the time. Unfortunately, his initial attempt to contain the rebels failed, and the Concilium Plebis contemplated summoning Pompey who was heading home from Spain. In the absolute south of Italy, M. Lucullus pushed back the rebels after arriving at Brundisium from Thrace. Crassus then eliminated the rebel forces swiftly, glad that he would not be seen as inferior to Pompey in terms of ability and success. Spartacus was killed, and 6000 supporters were crucified along the Appian Way (main road out of Rome).


Crassus' victory was overshadowed by the return of Pompey. Some of Spartacus' band fled before they could be captured, but were intercepted by Pompey's returning forces (probably due to chance rather than planning by Pompey). He sent a message to the Roman Senate, claiming that he finished the war against the rebels.


The revolt of Spartacus sent a clear message to the Roman people. There was unrest and dissent amongst the slave population in Roman territory. There would be an ever present threat to Roman internal security with such dissent, and as a result, the use of slaves diminished slightly and gradually. Social attitudes also changed, with certain patricians opposed to using slaves. The introduction of the colonate (use of free tenants) proved to be relatively popular. But, slave labour continued for a long time after the fall of Spartacus. The episode also was a precursor to increasing tensions between Pompey and Crassus, which would have explosive results in later events.

[Centric21]

Nickname...I am known to be a tad bit...Eccentric at times. I love the word always have, it is a sexy word, quite a few friends back in the day used that as one of the words to describe me in one of our group class projects, and it kinda stuck. Heh, at a house party a friend of mine, quite trashed *drunk/wasted* went to say Eccentric to me and the only thing we understood was...Centric....so we laughed our asses off, and thus Centric was born

[spongebob square...]

self explainable....

[DarkRaven]

Dark+Raven

I chose it because back in these days it expressed my feelings: my pessimism, my frustration and dissapointment with many things...still does to a degree... (and at the same time it sounded cool )

[Sabbattack]

Έχουμε γεμίσει "σκοτεινούς γκοθάδες"...

[deacon]

Etymology: Middle English dekene, from Old English dEacon, from Late Latin diaconus, from Greek diakonos, literally, servant, from dia- + -konos (akin to enkonein to be active); perhaps akin to Latin conari to attempt

From the previous etymolgy I have removed the clerical related part of the etymology, as I do not have the best opinion for the clergy

I always found intriguing the prospect of man serving a cause. The word deacon seemed to describe well that, in a broader sense. Which cause to serve, though, is a question with no easy answer.

[DarkRaven]

Έχουμε γεμίσει "σκοτεινούς γκοθάδες"...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Nearly froze to death sab

[IIIARSHAA]

my name was a typing error, it was the make of a pen that was by my pc, bit of a boring story but truthful

[NickTheGreek]

deacon i find your story really interesting

[ladygorb]

All of these stories are so very interesting and some so thought out. And after reading some of these I think I should have put more thought into in when I named myself. Deacon (very commendable), NicktheGreek (which I knew the history of, just didn't know if he did), Spartacus (always loved the gladiator history) and then the play with words that many combined to tell of they're interests and feelings. This is a very interesting game Sab! Great job.

[Sabbattack]

Thanx ladygorb. I appreciate all you people feedback!

[deacon]

Thanks alot for the positive feedback people. I found your explanations equally interesting

@ladygorb: Spending too much time on choosing your nickname is not always a necessity. You may feel comfortable with a nickname that took you an instance to think of (perhaps due to a sudden stroke of genius). The most important part is making sure that you like being identified by the nick you chose. Even if it is something you typed in randomly

As always, I apologize for slaughtering prepositions...