machiavellean

I can make you smart.™

First off, my name is not really "machiavellean." Machiavellean with an "e" not an "i." It’s a nom de internet I use, one of several, and the most frequent: Erle W Machiavellean. Since I occasionally mention my son’s location and rank, I use an anagram of my real name. It has nothing to do with Machiavelli or with being machiavellian. Using my real name would make it too easy for someone to connect my son to some intemperate posting of mine. The anagram puts distance between our actual names.

The anagram just happens to be a sound-alike for the adjective "machiavellian," from Nicolo Machiavelli. If my real name had one less "e" and one more "i" then "Erle W Machiavellian" would result as an anagram and I could, but probably would not, choose the anagram "machiavellian" as a handle.

When I search for "machiavellean" I either find a misspelling for the adjective, something written by me, or something referring to me. That would not be the case if I used "machiavellian." I’d get thousands of hits. Besides, choosing that spelling would suggest that I’m being machiavellian. I’m not. My persona is usually that of a somewhat cranky high school English teacher. Not far from what and who I am.

A few times on forums, people have had the audacity to suggest that I misspelled my own monicker. Absurd. One whose chain I pulled offered several synonyms for machiavellian that she thought might describe me. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the poster; she was finally banned from the forum for offensive posts.

Synonyms she came up with that I didn’t particularly mind were feline and leg-puller. She didn’t suggest cunning, but she did suggest vulpine. What a stretch that was. Who knew that vulpine had to do with a fox? Aren’t foxes known for being cunning? Too straightforward I suppose to have just used cunning. As for feline, WordReference offers this: "resembling or suggestive of a cat, especially in stealth or grace." Stealth and grace. I like that.

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I can make you smart.™