this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2024
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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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cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2997684

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[–] Successful_Try543 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Karl Marx himself was not a marxist.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] Successful_Try543 12 points 1 month ago

There is a Marx quote like: "I know for sure I'm not a marxist." Which is supposedly in the context of the necessity of a violent revolution for the transition to communism.

[–] lars@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You know who else doesn’t belong in nominative determinism? Jesus Christ, Whose name, of course, roughly translates to “oily Josh”.

[–] itsnicodegallo@lemm.ee 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's because "Christ" is a title. Not his name. Hence, "Jesus of Nazareth".

[–] lars@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Jesus Christ? I don’t know Him.

[–] lennivelkant@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 month ago

Judas would approve