My first name is Jeremy, and my parents/little bro have always called me Jerm for short (my bro is 20 and I honestly don't remember the last time he called me by my first name). I've never let anyone else call me Jerm, so I told my gf she had to come up with something different.....so she cheated and just added an a. lol
I use this name all over the net, so if you ever see it, it's prob. me.
Back when I was a lot more obsessive about online combat flight sims (Air Warrior paid by the hour, anyone remember those days?) I joined a squadron made up mostly of other (real life) Air Force guys. We got into WWI stuff, and I went into basic Sopwith Camel training. Well, at least in the version in that sim, if you got into a left turn in just the wrong way you go into an uncontrollable spin. I was a master of finding just that wrong place. One day I joked that if you sent me up with your wet laundry I could spin it dry for you before I hit the ground. Viola, thus is a callsign born, and the guys dubbed me "SpinDry."
Spinny just became a casual version, and over the years has come to name my alter ego when I get a little too (usually alcohol-induced) cocksure of myself. "Ladies, Spinny is in the hiz-OUSE!" My wife even asks me as I'm going out for revelry with the guys if she's going to have to deal with Spinny coming home instead of me.
Yeah, I found out the hard way when I saw my name on one forum was "threefortyduste"...as one of my friends put it...that's like getting a bad haircut on the way out of town.