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.
Two early variants are found,
sotbriquet and
soubriquet; the latter form is still often used, though it is not the correct modern
French spelling. 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 due to 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.
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, either. 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.
*
Albion –
Great Britain*
Alma Mater – (one's own) University
* The Almighty –
God* The Almighty Nose –
Oliver Cromwell* Alpha and Omega –
Jesus* Attila the Hen –
Margaret Thatcher* Auld Reekie –
Edinburgh* Auntie – the
BBC* Aussie – an
Australian* Baghdad Bob –
Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf (More commonly known as Comical Ali in the
United Kingdom)
* The Bard –
William Shakespeare* The Bard of
Avon –
William Shakespeare* The Bard of
Twickenham –
Alexander Pope* The Beautiful Game –
football* The Big Apple –
New York* The Big Easy –
New Orleans* The Big Smoke –
London* The Black Country – the
West Midlands* The Black Prince –
Edward, Prince of Wales (Son of
Edward III)
*
Blighty –
Great Britain (used by British servicemen abroad)
* Bloody Mary –
Mary I* Bonnie Prince Charlie –
Charles Edward Stuart* The Boss –
Bruce Springsteen* Boz –
Charles Dickens* Brenda –
Queen Elizabeth II* The Brewer –
Oliver Cromwell* Brian –
Prince Charles*
Brillo Pad –
Andrew Neil*
Brummie – a person from
Birmingham* Buck House –
Buckingham Palace* Chemical Ali –
Ali Hassan al-Majid* The City – the
City of London, the British financial industry (
metonymically), or
San Francisco* The City of Broad Shoulders –
Chicago* The City of Dreaming Spires –
Oxford*
Cockney – a Londoner
* CÅ"ur de Lion –
Richard I* Comical Ali –
Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf* Copper Nose –
Oliver Cromwell* The Cradle of Infantry –
Belgaum* Craw –
Iain Crawford* Crum-Hell –
Oliver Cromwell* The Dark Continent –
Africa* The Desert Fox – General
Erwin Rommel* Dubya (or Gee-Dub) –
U.S. President George W. Bush* El Duque –
Orlando Hernandez* Elia –
Charles Lamb* The Emerald Isle –
Ireland* The Eternal City –
Rome* The Evil One – the
Devil* The Fab Four –
The Beatles* The Few – the Allied fighter pilots who won the
Battle of Britain* The
Fourth Estate –
the press* The Frogs – (derog.) the
French* The Garden of
England –
Kent*
Genghis Khan – Temüjin
*
Geordie – a person from
Newcastle-upon-Tyne* The Gipper –
Ronald Reagan* Gloriana –
Elizabeth I* The Good Grey Poet –
Walt Whitman* Good Queen Bess –
Elizabeth I* Grandmother of Europe –
Queen Victoria* The Granite City –
Aberdeen* Great Cham –
Dr Johnson* The Great Elector –
Frederick I of Brandenburg* The
Great Emancipator –
Abraham Lincoln* The Greatest –
Muhammad Ali* The Great One –
Wayne Gretzky* The Great She-Elephant –
Margaret Thatcher* The Great Unwashed – the (British)
lower class* Great Wen –
London* The
Great White Way – the theatre district of
Broadway* Grits – members or supporters of the
Liberal Party of Canada* The Grocer –
Edward Heath* The Grocer's Daughter –
Margaret Thatcher* Hammer of the
Scots –
Edward I* Honest Abe –
Abraham Lincoln*
I AM –
God* The Iron Duke – the
Duke of Wellington* The Iron Lady –
Margaret Thatcher* The Iron Maiden –
Margaret Thatcher* Jack Tar – sailor in the British
Royal Navy*
Jerry – German
Nazi soldier
* Jock – (derog.) a
Scotsman*
John Bull –
England, or an
Englishman* The King of All Media –
Howard Stern* The King of Pop –
Michael Jackson* The King of Rock and Roll –
Elvis Presley* King Oliver –
Oliver Cromwell*
Kiwi – a person from
New Zealand* Knight of the Road – a tramp, a lorry-driver, or a
highwayman* Limey – (derog.) a
British person
* The Lion of the North –
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden* Longshanks –
Edward I* The
Louisville Lip –
Muhammad Ali*
Mackem – a person from
Sunderland* The Maid of
Orleans –
Joan of Arc* The Man –
Patrick Volkerding* Man's Best Friend –
dog* Mother of Parliaments – the
British Parliament* Mister May –
Dave Winfield* Mister October –
Reggie Jackson* Moz or Mozza –
Morrisey*
Mr. Scratch – the
Devil* The Nine Days Queen –
Lady Jane Grey* Nosey –
Oliver Cromwell* The Old Bill – the (British)
police force* The Old Contemptibles – British
First World War veterans; originally a reference to the
British Expeditionary Force of 1914
* Old Harry – the
Devil* Old Ironsides –
Oliver Cromwell* The Old Lady of
Threadneedle Street – the
Bank of England* Old Nick – the
Devil* The Old
Pretender –
James Francis Edward Stuart* Paddy – (derog.) an
Irishman*
Perfidious Albion –
Great Britain* The Phoney Pharaoh –
Mohamed Al-Fayed* The Pocker – the
Devil* Pommy – a
British person (used by Australians and New Zealanders)
* The Prince of Darkness – the
Devil* Prinny – the Prince Regent, later
George IV* The Red Planet –
Mars* Richard the Lionheart –
Richard I* Les Rosbifs – (derog.) the
British* Ruby Node –
Oliver Cromwell* The Sage of
Chelsea –
Thomas Carlyle* The Sailor King –
William IV*
Sassenach – an
Englishman (used by Scots)
*
Scouser – a Liverpudlian
* Second-Hand
Scouser – (derog.) a person from
Birkenhead* The Special One –
José Mourinho* The Sport of Kings –
horse-racing* The Square Mile – the
City of London* The Staff of Life – bread
* Street of Ink –
Fleet Street* The Sultan of Swat –
Babe Ruth* The Sun King –
Louis XIV* The Swan of
Avon –
William Shakespeare* Taffy – (derog.) a
Welshman* The
Teflon President –
Ronald Reagan* Tina –
Margaret Thatcher* Tommy Atkins – British soldier
*
Tory – a member or supporter of the
British or
Canadian Conservative Party
* Tricky Dick –
Richard Nixon*
Turd Blossom –
Karl Rove*
Uncle Sam – the
U.S.A.* The Virgin Queen –
Elizabeth I* The Warrior Queen –
Boadicea*
Whig – a member of the late 17th to mid 19th Century British "Country Party"
* The
Whore of Babylon –
Rome* The Windy City –
Chicago* The Wizard of the North –
Walter Scott*
Yankee – (derog. in some contexts) a person from the
U.S.A.* The Young
Pretender –
Bonnie Prince Charlie*
Nickname*
Offensive terms per nationality*
List of monarchs by nickname*
Nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility*
List of United States Presidential nicknames*
List of city nicknames*
List of English football club nicknames*
List of baseball nicknames*
List of basketball nicknames*
List of North American football nicknames*
List of sportspeople by nickname
