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I think I've traced it back to a literary connection to a book by a woman from Virginia named Emma Southworth, written in the 1800s. She had a book called "Ishmael." (the English spelling.) As of yesterday, the only page with the phrase "Ishmael Ax" was in her book.

This book is about a troubled, ill-fated young man from the hills of Virginia named Ishmael. He was an illegitimate child, and his mother died at childbirth. Because of it, he is later referred to as "Nobody's Son"... as Cho became "Question Mark".

I sat and read this online last night. This character Ishmael is, in many ways, a pre-cursor to Holden Caulfield in "Catcher in the Rye." Mark David Chapman, the killer of John Lennon, already has a claim to that book, so I believe Cho, being an English major, went a little more obscure for his inspiration.

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Ismail Meaning

It MAY be an Islamic reference to the story in the Koran, which is described here:

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/17/va_tech_mass_...

This seems to be one of the most popular theories thus far, however it's entirely unknown whether this is the case and there is no other public evidence that the individual had anything to do with militant Islam. So, that's entirely speculation. It might be true, but it's just something of a guess.

Others have speculated AX may be a reference to a sorority or may stand for something else.

Some have pointed to everything from a Turkish pop singer to a misspelling of the narator of Moby Dick.

I don't think there is any conclusive answer right now.

Well, some people have said that maybe ISMail is a mail server for Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003. Ax is a user name for ISP email accounts. ISMail accounts can store an unlimited number of messages, and send and receive messages of nearly any size, but this is just a theory right now....hopefully he had a computer or more clues in his dorm that might help piece together this maniac's mind and help link why he'd hurt so many innocent people... for any Virginia Tech student out there that might be reading... may or prayers be with you and the families of the victims and know that all these people who died are courageous and everyone is praying for you and them... MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

Mine’s ridiculous, but i’d like to make a wild guess. I had based it on the information i got from different news channels. Maybe it’s really not a name. It could be an abbreviation of something he’s been wanting to do. ISMAIL AX.

“I shall murder all in language at point blank”

how did i came up with this? well first of, he killed students from German and French class. that’s what i heard from fox news.

The police reports, autopsy stated that most victims were shot at “Point Blank”. There where no less than three gunshot wounds on each victim, which means he was probably determined to get a head shot.

but i'm not confident with my interpretation of X, it could be anything such as the number 10. "X" is used in maps, to search for a specific location, like where a treasure is buried. it is also used in video games to display a target.... i don't know, it's confusing.

while searching on tuesday I found an interesting thing. in 2006 a lifetime achievement award was given to Ismail Merchant. this award is called an AX by the Asian Exellency Awards commitee. It may be a shot in the dark but along with being an english major. Cho also was into filmography and film production.He wrote screen plays. Ismail Merchant was producer of many films including, The remains of the day----Howards end-----A room with a veiw---Creation of a woman----MR. and MRS Bridge ----Mahatma and the mad boy. and many more. He died in 2005 and the AX was awarded to him posthumously. perhaps Cho identified with Merchant in some way or aspired to be like him.Recognized by the Asian community as great after his death. more about the AXA and the AX ( Asian Excellence )award The Asian Excellence Awards (AXA) will shine a national spotlight on Asian Americans who have made a genuine difference. The Awards will celebrate and recognize the amazing and inspirational accomplishments of Asians and Asian Americans SO HERE IT IS . MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE ISMAIL-AX THEORIES for what it,s worth

The phrase found written on Cho's arm, "Ismail Ax" obviously meant something significant to Cho. What it meant to him remains a mystery.

Ismail is the traditional English language spelling for the man Muslims consider the forefather of the Arabs. He is the son of Ibrahim—known as Abraham in the Old Testament—whom Muslims refer to as the father of the prophets.

In the version of the story documented in the Quran, God told Ibrahim to kill Ismail to prove his loyalty to God. In some interpretations, Ibrahim intended to kill his son with a knife, but when he discovered the knife wasn't sharp enough, Ibrahim chose an ax.

It's an Anagram. Re-arrange the letters and you get "Axialism".

The definition of axialism? Read this excerpt from Tom Cheesman's article, "Juggling burdons of Representation":

"[Axialism] means a consciously performed exploration, even exploitation, of the axes of identity and difference - nationality, 'race', ethnicity, religion, place, class, gender and so on. These axialities are foregrounded in the self-awareness of migrant subjects (writers and others) under the pressure of majority perception of their 'abnormality', their deviant 'hybridity' or 'exterritoriality'. "

Considering his migrant status, and the views he expressed about feeling like an outsider, I am pretty confident that this is what "Ismail-Ax" represented.

ISMAIL AX is "psycho-killer" language for, "I'm gonna leave something behind that is meaningless, but will confuse people for the rest of their lives".

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it's an inverted anogram. The name of the guy that shooter wanted to kill was one of the slain victim named, Liam. Invert "Ismail Ax" and you will see " Liam is ax" , meaning "I killed Liam."