A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a
nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a
pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of explanation, and it often becomes more familiar than the original name.
The term ''sobriquet'' may apply to the nickname for a specific person, group of people, or place. Examples are "Emiye Menelik", a name of Emperor
Menelik II of
Ethiopia, who was popularly and affectionately recognized for his kindness ("emiye" means "mother" in
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
); "
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
", who now is rarely recognized by his original name Temüjin; and Mohandas Gandhi, who is better known as "
Mahatma" Gandhi ("mahatma" means "great soul" in
Sanskrit). Well-known places often have sobriquets, such as
New York City, often referred to as the "
Big Apple".
Etymology
The modern French spelling is . Two early variants of the term are found: and . The first early spelling variant, "soubriquet", remains in use and is considered the likely origin.
The second early spelling variant suggests derivation from the initial form , foolish, and the second part, , is a French adaptation of Italian , diminutive of , knave, possibly connected with , rogue, which is supposed to be a derivative of the
German , to break; but the
philologist Walter William Skeat considers this spelling to be an example of
false etymology and argues the real origin should be sought in the form .
Émile Littré gives an early-14th-century ''soubsbriquet'' as meaning a chuck under the chin, and this would be derived from ''soubs'', mod. ''sous'' ( la, sub), under, and ''briquet'' or ''bruchel'', the brisket, or lower part of the throat.
Use
Sobriquets often are found in music, sports, comedy and politics. Candidates and political figures often are branded with sobriquets, either while living or posthumously. For example,
president of the United States Abraham Lincoln came to be known as "Honest Abe".
In the ''
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage'' (1926),
Henry Watson Fowler 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." He included the sobriquet among what he termed the "battered ornaments" of the language, but opinion on their use varies. Sobriquets remain a common feature of speech today.
Examples
* The King (of rock and roll)
Elvis Presley, famous vocalist and musician
* The Big Yin –
Billy Connolly, Glaswegian comedian commonly referred to as "The Big Yin", meaning "The Big One" in Scots
* The
Big Apple –
New York City
* The
Big Smoke - London
* Godzone –
New Zealand, from "God's own country".
*
Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
–
Britain
*
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
– The United States or the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, poetic name
*
Dixie, Dixieland – (from the
Mason–Dixon line); the eleven Southern states that seceded and fought against the U.S. in the
American Civil War
* The
Fourth Estate –
the press
*
Land of the Rising Sun
The word ''Japan'' is an exonym, and is used (in one form or another) by many languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon () and Nihon (). They are both written in Japanese using the kanji .
During the third-century CE Three Kingdoms perio ...
-
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
*
Pearl of the Orient – the Philippines, referring to its location in the Southeast Asia (or the East, with "Orient" meaning "East")
*
Graveyard of Empires –
Afghanistan
*
Londonistan
"Londonistan" is an Islamophobic sobriquet referring to the British capital of London and the growing Muslim population of late-20th- and early-21st-century London.
The word is a portmanteau of the UK's capital and the Persian suffix -stan, m ...
– London, refers to the growing Muslim population of the city
*
Uncle Sam – the U.S. in general or specifically, its government (likely from the initials "U.S.")
* Uncle Joe -
Joseph Stalin
* The Sun King -
Louis XIV of France
* Papa Doc -
François Duvalier
François Duvalier (; 14 April 190721 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was a Haitian politician of French Martiniquan descent who served as the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He was elected president in the 1957 general election on ...
, 34th president of Haiti
* The
Sage of
Chelsea –
Thomas Carlyle, Scots philosopher
*
The War to End All Wars –
World War I; since
World War II, used ironically
*
The Windy City – Chicago, Illinois
*
The Motor City - Detroit, Michigan
*
Yankee (or "Yank" for short) – first recorded use attributed to British General
James Wolfe, who used the word "Yankee" in 1758 to refer to the New England soldiers under his command. "I can afford you two companies of Yankees, and the more, because they are better for ranging and scouting than either work or vigilance".
[Mathews (1951) p 1896] Later British use of the word was in a derogatory manner, as seen in a cartoon published in 1775 ridiculing "Yankee" (American) soldiers.
In the Southern United States, the term is used in derisive reference to any Northerner, especially one who has migrated to the South and maintains derisive attitudes towards Southerners and the Southern way of life. Used outside the U.S. to mean any American; sometimes derogatory in usage
*
Man's best friend -
dogs
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
, derived from the origins of dogs, it indicates the relationship that has developed between the two species as they have each evolved to form a symbiotic relationship that is unique among human relationships to domestic animals.
References
Citations
Sources
*
External links
*
{{Personal names
Semantics
Word play