User since: Oct 11, 2005 at 17:49 UTC (19 years ago) Last here: Oct 04, 2024 at 16:56 UTC (1 week ago) Experience: 2240 Level: Chaplain (11) Writeups: 238 Location: Naperville, IL USA User's localtime: Oct 14, 2024 at 10:37 CDT Scratchpad: View For this user: Search nodes

Nimrod

This has been the hostname of my various desktop computers since I got my first SGI (before that I had 2 computers named looney and toons). It is currently the name of my Apple G5 at work.

The name stuck with me from my Bugs-Bunny days, but I was interested to read about its pre-BB history in Wikipedia. Here is an excerpt:

ORIGIN late 16th cent.:
from Hebrew Nimrod, the name of the great-grandson of Noah, reputed for his skill as a hunter (see Gen. 10:8-9). He is described as the son of Cush, grandson of Ham, great-grandson of Noah; and as "a mighty one on the earth" and "a mighty hunter before the LORD". A Mesopotamian monarch mentioned in Genesis, who also figures in many legends and folktales. Tradition views him as an impious tyrant who built the Tower of Babel.

In North America, the name took on connotations of a dolt when hunter Elmer Fudd was called "Nimrod" by Bugs Bunny in the popular Warner Bros. cartoons (although the cartoons are sometimes watched outside North America, this context is not found there). Long before that, there are recorded instances of its use as a slang word to mean simply "hunter" (from the Genesis account).

I crack myself up at work when I tell people I'm on nimrod, send it to me there...

What does that say about me?

Here is a video that talks about the history of the word, and is easy on the eyes.