Sobriquet

Sobriquet

A sobriquet is a nickname or a fancy name, usually a familiar name given by others as distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real name without the need of explanation. This salient characteristic, that is, of sufficient familiarity, is most easily noted in cases where the sobriquet becomes more familiar than the original name for which it was formed as an alternative. For example, Genghis Khan, who is rarely recognized now by his original name "Temüjin"; and the British Whig party, which acquired its sobriquet from the British Tory Party as an insult.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Usage 3 Well-known examples in the Anglosphere 3.1 A-C 3.2 D-G 3.3 H-M 3.4 N-S 3.5 T-Z

Etymology

Two early variants of the term are found, sotbriquet and soubriquet; the latter form is still often used. The modern French spelling is sobriquet. The first form suggests a derivation from sot, foolish, and briquet, a French adaptation of Ital. brichetto, diminutive of bricco, ass, knave, possibly connected with briccone, rogue, which is supposed to be a derivative of Ger. brechen, to break; but Skeat considers this spelling to be an example of popular etymology, and the real origin is to be sought in the form soubriquet.

Littré gives an early 14th century soubsbriquet as meaning a chuck under the chin, and this would be derived from soubs, mod. sous (Lat. sub), under, and briquet or bruchel, the brisket, or lower part of the throat.

Usage

Sobriquets are often found in politics. Candidates and political figures are often branded with sobriquets, either contemporarily or historically. For example, American President Abraham Lincoln came to be known as Honest Abe. Sobriquets are not always used to highlight virtuous qualities. A banking tycoon and politician from Knoxville, Tennessee named Jake Butcher was known as "Jake the Snake" after being indicted and subsequently convicted for bank fraud.

Fowler's Modern English Usage (1926) warned, "Now the sobriquet habit is not a thing to be acquired, but a thing to be avoided; & the selection that follows is compiled for the purpose not of assisting but of discouraging it." Fowler included the sobriquet among what he termed the "battered ornaments" of the language.

Well-known examples in the Anglosphere

A-C

• Angel of Death - Josef Mengele
• The Answer - Allen Iverson, NBA Basketball player
• the Antipodes - Australia and New Zealand
• Auntie - either the Australian Broadcasting Corporation or the British Broadcasting Corporation
• BA - Bryan Adams, English-Canadian musician and photographer
• Babe - George Herman Ruth, Jr., American Baseball Player
• Baghdad by the Bay - San Francisco, California
• the Bard - William Shakespeare
• Beantown - Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Becks - David Beckham, English soccer-football player and celebrity
• The Big Apple - New York City, New York, USA
• Biggie Smalls - Christopher Wallace, American Hip-Hop and rap singer
• The Big Stick - Theodore Roosevelt's diplomatic policy
• Bird - Charlie Parker
• Black Mamba - Kobe Bryant
• Blighty - Great Britain (used by British servicemen abroad and expatriates)
• Bloody Mary - Mary I of England
• Bonnie Prince Charlie - Charles Edward Stuart
• Brangelina - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
• Brillo Pad - Andrew Neil
• Britannia - Great Britain
• Broadway Joe - Joe Namath, AFL/NFL American Football player
• Brummie - a person from Birmingham, England
• Buddha - Siddhartha Gautama
• Cabbagetown - neighborhoods in Toronto, Ontario and in Atlanta, Georgia
• Caligula- Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
• Canuck - Canadian, from Johnny Canuck
• Chemical Ali - Ali Hassan al-Majid
• Chosin Few - US Marine survivors of Korean War Battle of Chosin Reservoir
• The City or The City by the Bay - San Francisco, California
• The City of Roses - Portland, USA
• Cockney - an East Londoner
• Columbia - The United States or The Americas
• Comical Ali - Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, Iraqi Information Minister during the 2003 US invasion; also known as Baghdad Bob
• Joe Cool - Joe Montana, NFL American Football player
• Craw - Iain Crawford

D-G

• Diddy - Sean Combs Rapper, producer, actor, fashion designer, mogul
• Digger - Australian soldier
• The Doctor - Valentino Rossi
• Dubya - George W. Bush
• The Duke - John Wayne
• The Emerald Isle - Ireland or Puerto Rico
• The Emerald City - Seattle, Washington, USA
• Father of his country - George Washington
• The Federal City - Washington D.C.
• Foggy Bottom- the United States State Department
• The Fourth Estate - the press
• Frisco - derogatory term for San Francisco, California
• Garrincha - Manoel Francisco dos Santos
• The General - Irish Criminal Martin Cahill
• Genghis Khan - Temüjin
• Geordie - a person from Newcastle-upon-Tyne
• God's Own Country - Kerala, New Zealand, Rhodesia or Yorkshire
• The Godfather of Soul - James Brown
• The Golden Jet - Bobby Hull NHL/WHA hockey player
• GOP (Grand Old Party)- Republican Party (United States)
• Gotham - New York
• The Governator - Arnold Schwarzenegger, 38th Governor of California
• The Great Communicator - Ronald Reagan, The 40th President of the United States of America
• The Great Emancipator - Abraham Lincoln, The 16th President of the United States of America
• The Great One - Wayne Gretzky, WHA/NHL hockey player
• Grits - a media term for the Liberal Party of Canada
• The Gray Lady - The New York Times
• The Great Commoner - William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham ("Pitt the Elder") or William Jennings Bryan

H-M

• Hanoi Jane - Jane Fonda
• Honest Abe - Abraham Lincoln
• Iceman - George Gervin, ABA/NBA Basketball player; Kimi Räikkönen, Formula 1 racing driver
• Joe the Plumber - Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, an American plumbing contractor who was cited as an example of a middle class American during the 2008 U.S. presidential election season by Republican nominee for president, John McCain
• John Bull - England, or an Englishman
• Joltin' Joe - Joe Dimaggio, Baseball player; former husband of Marilyn Monroe
• Kaká - Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite
• The King - actor Clark Gable; entertainer Graham Kennedy
• The King (of all Media) - Howard Stern
• The King (of NASCAR) - Richard Petty
• The King (of Rock and Roll) - Elvis Presley
• The King of Pop - Michael Jackson
• Land of Five rivers - Punjab
• The Left Coast - California, Oregon and Washington, said regarding politics.
• Limey - a national epithet for the English, mainly applied by Americans.
• The Lion of the Round Top - Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain, commander of the 20th Maine Regiment, American Civil War
• The Lou - The City of St. Louis, Missouri
• The Lucky Country - Australia
• Mackem - a person from Sunderland
• Madiba - Nelson Mandela
• Man's best friend - dogs
• Manitas de Plata - Flamenco guitarist Ricardo Baliardo
• The Material Girl - Madonna
• The Myth - Bodybuilding great Sergio Oliva
• Mahatma Gandhi - Mohandas K. Gandhi
• Master Blaster- Sachin Tendulkar
• Mother's Ruin - Gin
• Murasaki Shikibu - author of The Tale of Genji, whose real name is unknown
• Mr. Hockey - Gordie Howe, NHL/WHA Hockey player

N-S

• Newfie - slang for a person from Newfoundland, Canada
• The Next One - Sidney Crosby, NHL hockey player
• The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street - the Bank of England
• Old Nick - Satan
• Old St. Nick - Santa
• The Old Bailey - The Central Criminal Court in England
• The Old Pretender - James Francis Edward Stuart
• The Paris of the West - San Francisco, USA
• Pelé - Edson Arantes do Nascimento
• Perfidious Albion - Great Britain
• Peripatetics - Aristotelian philosophers
• Pom - An English Person (used in Australia and New Zealand)
• The Purple People Eaters - The Minnesota Vikings defensive line of the late 1960s to the late 1970s
• Ponton - Mercedes-Benz models made between 1953 and 1962
• Prince of the Humanists - Desiderius Erasmus
• The Queen of the Arabian Sea - Cochin
• Rats of Tobruk - the garrison of Tobruk during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II
• Rivaldo - Vítor Borba Ferreira
• The Rat Pack - A group of American singers and entertainers from the late 1950s to the early 1970s
• Ronaldinho - Ronaldo de Assis Moreira
• Sassenach - an English person (used by Highland Scots)
• Satchmo - Louis Armstrong
• Second City - Chicago, USA
• Scouser - a Liverpudlian
• Ship of the Desert - Camel
• Sin City - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Slick Willy - U.S. President Bill Clinton
• Slowhand - Eric Clapton
• Soapy Sam - Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford
• Soapy Smith - Jefferson Randolph Smith II, infamous nineteenth century U.S. crime boss.
• Stormy - David Weathers
• Sweet Lou - Lou Piniella, Major League Baseball manager and former player

T-Z

• teddy bear - stuffed toy bear named after Theodore Roosevelt
• Tinseltown - Hollywood, California, USA
• T.O. - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Tommy Atkins - a British soldier
• Tomkat - Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
• Tory - a member or supporter of the British or Canadian Conservative Party
• The Teflon Don - mobster John Gotti
• Tricky Dick - President Richard Nixon
• Turd Blossom - George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove
• Uncle Sam - the U.S.A. or sometimes the government
• Weegie - a person from Glasgow
• Westminster - the British Parliament
• Westminster Abbey - The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster
• Whig - a member of the late 17th to mid 19th Century British "Country Party"
• Whitehall - the British government including Parliament but excluding the monarchy
• White House - the executive branch of the government of the United States
• The Windy City - Chicago, Illinois, USA
• X-22 - backgammon champion Paul Magriel.
• Yardbird - jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker (Also shortened simply to "Bird")
• Yankee - (derogatory in some contexts) a person from the United States (usual usage outside the U.S.) or from the Northeast or New England (in American usage).
• Yank (a short form of "Yankee") - a person from the United States
• The Young Pretender - Charles Edward Stuart