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A 'nickname' is a name of a person or thing other than its proper name. It may either substitute or be added to the proper name. It may be a familiar or truncated form of the proper name, such as ''Bob'', ''Bobby'', ''Rob'', ''Robbie'', ''Robin'', and ''Bert'' for ''Robert''.
The term hypocoristic or "pet name" is used to refer to a nickname of affection between those in love or with a close emotional bond, compared with a term of endearment. The term diminutive name refers to nicknames that convey smallness of the names, e.g., referring to children. The distinction between the two is often blurred.
As a concept, it is distinct from both pseudonym and stage name, and also from title (for example, City of Fountains), although there may be overlap in these concepts.
A nickname is sometimes considered desirable, symbolising a form of acceptance, but can often be a form of ridicule.
Etymology: 1440, misdivision of ''ekename'' (1303), ''an eke name'', literally "an additional name," from Old English ''eaca'' "an increase," related to ''eacian'' "to increase". ^[1]
In Viking societies, many people had nicknames ''heiti'', ''viðrnefni'' or ''uppnefi'' which were used in addition to, or instead of their family names. In some circumstances the giving of a nickname had a special status in Viking society in that it created a relationship between the name maker and the recipient of the nickname, to the extent that the creation of a nickname also often entailed a formal ceremony and an exchange of gifts.

Contents

Computing

The Arts

Nicknames for people

Nicknames of geographical places

Regions

Nicknames for companies

Nicknames for universities

See also

References

External links

Computing

In the context of information technology, a nickname (or technically a ''nick'') is a common synonym for a ''screenname'' or ''handle''.
'Nick'' is a term originally used to identify a person in a system for synchronous conferencing. In computer networks it has become a common practice for every person to also have one or more nicknames for the purposes of anonymity, to avoid ambiguity or simply because the natural name or technical address would be too long to type or take too much space on the screen.
A nickname may also be used in the sense of a username on any system that requires a login, such as a website or a private network. Nicknames are routinely employed to enable a certain level of security.

The Arts

Many writers, performing artists and actors have nicknames, which may develop into a stage name or pseudonym. A bardic name may also result from a nickname.

Nicknames for people

They may reference a person's physical characteristics. Examples:

★ Frankie or Curly (ironic) for a bald person

★ Tubs, Chubby, or Porker McChubbs for a fat person (generally offensive)

★ Four-Eyes for a person with glasses (mildly offensive)

★ Mushmouth (or Mush) for a person with a Southern U.S. drawl (offensive)
This is particularly common in Spanish-speaking cultures, with nicknames like ''Flaco'' (thin) or ''Palito'' (little stick), ''El Gordo'' (the fat guy), ''Chino'' for anyone who looks vaguely Asian, or ''Gato'' (cat) for someone with blue or green eyes.
Sometimes related to "alias", a personal nickname may be a sarcastic, or simply ironic, reference, e.g., Curly for someone with straight hair (or no hair at all); this form was typical in Australian English in the mid 20th Century but less so in current language e.g:

★ 'Shorty' for a very tall person

★ 'Tiny' for an overweight person
A nickname can also originate from someone's real name. Examples:

★ CJ for someone whose initials are C.J. (or if their first name starts with a C and is a Jr.)
These are usually used to make names shorter and thus easier to say.
There are also nicknames based on a person's surname:

★ 'Thommo' for an Andrew Thompson - these are usually used to differentiate amongst people with common given names.
It may relate to a specific incident or action. Example: Capability Brown was so called because he used the word "capability" instead of "possibility". Other examples include: Chemical Ali and Comical Ali. Many fictional characters have nicknames relating to events: Examples include the Red Comet, White Tiger, Desert Tiger and Hawk of Endymion.
It may compare the person with a famous or fictional character. Examples:

★ Napoleon or Hitler for someone with a dictatorial manner
It may be related to their place of origin or place of residence. Example:

★ Gloucester, Paul from Gloucester or PFG for someone named Paul who comes from a town called Gloucester.
It may refer to a person's fucking process political affiliation. Examples:

★ hard for a member of Canada's New Democratic Party.

★ Tory for a person affiliated with the United Kingdom's or Canada's Conservative Party.
It may allude to a person's intelligence, such as:

★ Encyclopedia, as in Donald Sobol's fictional child detective Leroy Brown

★ Einstein, referring to the famous physicist.

★ Sherlock, in reference to A. C. Doyle's Sherlock Holmes

★ Brainiac, as in the fictional DC Comics character
(These latter three are often also used sarcastically.)
A famous person's nickname may be unique to them:

★ Tippecanoe for William Henry Harrison

★ Dubya for George W. Bush, an exaggeration of Texan pronunciation of 'w', Bush's middle initial.

★ Opa for the Dutch lifesaving 'KNRM-hero' Dorus Rijkers. Dorus became a 'Grandpa', (Dutch:"Opa"), at the age of 23 (by the marriage to a widow with eight children), and soon everybody called him 'Opa'.

★ Jack The Dripper for painter Jackson Pollock who created many of his works by dripping paint over horizontal canvas

★ Gazza for English footballer Paul Gascoigne (though used more widely in Australia for Gary) and similar "zza" forms (Hezza, Prezza, ''etc'') for other prominent personalities whose activities are frequently reported in the British press

★ Champion Taylor for Mark Hanson (In reference to the band Hanson)

Nicknames of geographical places

Particularly with geographical places, it is important to distinguish between nickname and title. A nickname is almost always a brief term that is either friendly or derogatory and can be substituted for the real name at will. A title is usually a multi-word term, often created for promotional purposes, sometimes created as a putdown, that cannot be substituted for the real name at will.
Most of the "city nicknames" are not nicknames; they are titles. For example, Kansas City is titled (or dubbed) 'Heart of America' and 'City of Fountains'; it is nicknamed KC. People will use KC very frequently in everyday speech as a friendly substitute for Kansas City; it is the popular nickname for the city. By contrast, probably only the tourist industry ever uses the term 'City of Fountains'; this is a title, not a nickname.
:''See List of country nicknames''

Regions

★ The Wet Coast - British Columbia, Canada; a play on "The West Coast" because that area of the country rains a lot

★ Red states - states that generally support Republican or more conservative candidates for national public office

★ Blue states - states that generally support Democrat or more liberal candidates for public office

★ The Cow Belt - also known as the "Hindi Belt," the area of northern India through which the Ganges flows, consisting principally of the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, considered the heartland of Hinduism and the Hindi language

★ The Deep South, Bible Belt - Southern U.S.

★ The Dirty South (usually the South Eastern States but not limited to the whole Old South, usually used among rappers)

★ The Left Coast - the states of Washington, Oregon, and California in the United States; due to their location on most maps and general support of "the left" (liberal political ideology).

★ Bridge of the World, Heart of the Universe (Spanish: Puente del Mundo, Corazón del Universo) - Republic of Panama; due to the convergence of the principal trade routes through its Panama Canal

★ The Third Coast- the cities and states that are on the Gulf Coast of the United States. (The term is also used in the film industry to refer to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex due to a large number of movies, commercials, etc. being filmed there – the "First Coast" is implied to be Hollywood and the "Second Coast" being New York.)

★ Bavaria on the North Sea - Flanders, due to its conservatism and catholicism

Nicknames for companies

★ "Auntie" - British Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

★ "Barfy's" - Arby's

★ "The Beeb" - British Broadcasting Corporation

★ "B-Dubs" - Buffalo Wild Wings

★ "Big Bird" - Giant Eagle, A U.S. supermarket chain

★ "Big Blue" - IBM, computer hardware/software manufacturer

★ "Bummer" - BMW cars

★ "The Big Eye" - CBS, broadcasting network

★ "The Peacock Network" (in reference to its logo) - NBC, broadcasting network

★ "Bloblaws" or "Blah-Blahs" - Loblaws, Canadian supermarket chain

★ "Bloodbath and Beyond" - Bed Bath and Beyond

★ "Bugger King" or "Bugger Fling" or "Burger Death" or "BK" or "Murder King" or "B.K. Lounge"- Burger King, global fast-food chain

★ "Chevy" - Chevrolet, an automobile company

★ "Crappy Tire" or "Canadian pif-paf" - Canadian Tire, a Canadian hardgoods retailer

★ "D. J's" - David Jones, Australian Up-Market Retailer

★ "Del Chate" (pronounced Chaw-Tee) - Del Taco

★ "Sleazy Jet" - EasyJet, a low cost European airline

★ "Four-bucks", "Bucks", "Starby's" - Starbucks

★ "Fuckruckers" or "Fudd's" or "Buttfuckers"- Fuddruckers

★ "Golden Slacks" - Goldman Sachs

★ "Great Yellow Father" - Eastman Kodak

★ "Hardly Normal" - Harvey Norman, an Australian electrical goods outlet

★ "H. J's" - Hungry Jacks (Australian version of Burger King)

★ "Ho-Jo" - Howard Johnson's

★ "Home Despot" - The Home Depot, a giant hardware store

★ "Jacques Penné" - JCPenney clothing stores

★ "Jack in the Crack" or "Jack Off (street name)" "Shat-in-the Crack" or "Shit in the Box"- Jack-in-the-Box

★ "Kentaco Hut" - KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut combo restaurants.

★ "Kentucky Fried Crap", "K-Fry", "K-Fried", "Kan't Fuckin' Cook" - KFC, American fried chicken restaurant chain

★ "K-World" - a nickname used in Michigan for the grocery store,Kroger.

★ "The Little Thief" - Little Chef, UK roadside restaurant

★ "LockMart" or "Lock-Mart" - Lockheed Martin Corporation, Aerospace contractor

★ "Long Juan Silvers" - Long John Silver's and Taco Bell combo restaurants

★ "Lose-It" - Loomis, Canadian courier company

★ "Ma Bell" - AT&T, American telephone company

★ "Marks & Sparks" - Marks & Spencer, British department store chain

★ "Mickey D's", "Maccy D", "Golden Arches", "The Golden Nightmare", "McDeath", "Rotten Ronnie's", "McDogchow", "McDick's", "McConvicts", "double-yuck", "American Embassy", "MacDo" mainly in France "Smack-Donald's" - McDonald's, global fast-food chain.

★ "Macca's" "Scottish restaurant"- (In Australia) McDonald's, global fast-food chain.

★ "Monkey Ward", "Mental Ward" - Montgomery Wards defunct Department Store chain

★ "M$," various versions of "Micro" plus an expression with or without various $-type signs; i.e. "Microsloth,"; or "The Borg" - Microsoft, software company

★ "Mothercorp" - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian national broadcaster

★ "Needless Markup" - Neiman Marcus, American upscale specialty retail department store

★ "Namcy" - Nationwide Advantage Mortgage Company

★ "Ninety" or "The Big N;" usually by fans or hardcore gamers - Nintendo, Japan-based video game company

★ "Northworst" - Northwest Airlines

★ "NO-VAcation" - the Nova Group, a Japanese eikaiwa (English conversation school) chain, as it is known by many of its former employees

★ "Office Despot" - Office Depot, Chain of office supply stores

★ "OOPS", "UnderPaid Slaves", "United Package Smashers" - UPS, American courier service

★ "Pizza Slut", "Pizza Smut" - Pizza Hut, Global pizza chain

★ "Pondegrosa" - Ponderosa Steakhouse

★ "Scan dick", "Scandalic" - Scandic

★ "Shittybank" - Citibank

★ "Skandial" - Skandia

★ "Slev," "Sleven" or "Sevies" - 7-Eleven

★ "Snot Gothic", "Goth Stoppit", "Goth'n'Go", "Whiny Hole", "Hot Profit" - Hot Topic

★ "Sooner-or-Later" - Purolator, Canadian courier company

★ "Tar-jais" ("r" is rolled; "jais" in French is pronounced - "zhay"), "Red Spot Boutique" - Target retail store chain.

★ "Timmy's," "Tim's" or "Timmy Ho's" - Tim Hortons, Canadian coffee and doughnut chain

★ "Taco Hell", "Toxic Hell", "Toxic Smell", "Baco Tell", "Buggering bells", "Taco Smell", "Toxic Bell", "Taco Beelzebub", "T-Bizzy", "Taco Death", "E. Coli Bell" "The Dong"- Taco Bell fast-food restaurant chain

★ "Toyz B We" -Toys R Us toy chain

★ "VIA Snail" - VIA Rail, Canadian passenger rail company

★ "Evil-Mart", "The Evil Empire", "Hell Inc.", "Evil Inc.", "Mall-Wart", "Wal-Merde" ("merde" is the french word for shit), "Wally World", "Wal-Fart", "Small Fart", or "Wall-Junk" - Wal-Mart, global chain of retail stores.

★ "Weggies" - Wegmans Food Market inc.

★ "Whole Paycheck" - Whole Foods Market

★ "Wuddy-Fuddy" "Big red shed"-Wharehouse (New Zealand)

★ "Woolies" - Woolworths Supermarkets (Australia and United Kingdom)

★ "Little Sleazer's" - Little Caesar's Pizza Restaurants

★ "Sleazers Palace" - Caesars Palace, Casino & Hotel (Las Vegas)

Nicknames for universities

★ "’Bama" for University of Alabama

★ "Barnyard" for Barnard College

★ "Big Green" for Dartmouth College

★ "Big Red" for Cornell University

★ "Bish" for Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

★ "Bobby-Gee's" for Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland

★ "B-Y-Who?" for Brigham Young University

★ "Caley", "Cal U", for Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland

★ "Cal" for University of California, Berkeley

★ "Canoe U" for the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland

★ "Carolina" for either of two schools:

★
★ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (used commonly in North Carolina, and sometimes by national media)

★
★ University of South Carolina Columbia (used commonly in South Carolina)

★ "Club Mac" for Macquarie University

★ "Central" for Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan

★ "C U Dub" for Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon, Wisconsin

★ "D-Smack" for Des Moines Area Community College

★ "Dick Cockton" for Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

★ "Diliman Republic" for University of the Philippines, Diliman.

★ "Dubyanell" for Washington and Lee University

★ "Ewe of 'Eh" for University of Alberta

★ "Four C's By The Sea" for Cape Cod Community College in Cape Cod, Massachusetts

★ "Fridericiana" for Universität Karlsruhe in Germany,

★ "Funshawe" for Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, Canada

★ "Ham-tech or Hamtech-ilton for Hamilton College

★ "Hamp U for Hampton University

★ "Harvard by the Lake" for Isothermal Community College

★ "Harvard on the Hill" derogatory term used for local community colleges

★ "Harvard on the Hudson" for Hudson Valley Community College

★ "Hudson High" for the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York

★ "G-Dub" for The George Washington University, Washington, DC

★ "Georgia Tech" for Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

★ "Ikeys" for the University of Cape Town, South Africa

★ "K State" for Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas

★ "Kinda Sorta College" for Keene State College, New Hampshire

★ "LA Tech" (pronounced "Lah Tech") for Louisiana Tech University

★ "M-Dub" for University of Mary Washington

★ "Marjons" for the College of St Mark & St John, Plymouth, UK

★ "Maties" for the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

★ "Melb Uni" for the University of Melbourne, Australia

★ "Mizzou" for University of Missouri–Columbia

★ "Nova" for Villanova University

★ "Okie State" or "OK State" for Oklahoma State University, most commonly its main campus in Stillwater

★ "Ole Miss" for University of Mississippi

★ "Oxbridge" for University of Cambridge, UK and University of Oxford, UK. Mainly used to indicate the combination of these.

★ "Pitt" for University of Pittsburgh

★ "Penn" for University of Pennsylvania

★ "Peyups" for University of the Philippines

★ "RIJC" (pronounced reject) for Rhode Island Junior College now called Community College of Rhode Island

★ "San Ho" or "Statie" for San José State University

★ "’Sconsin" for the University of Wisconsin-Madison

★ "SC" or "Southern Cal" for University of Southern California

★ "Ship" for Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

★ "Snodfart" for Stanford University

★ "Southern" for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

★ "Sparty" for Michigan State University

★ "SUNY Albany" for University of Albany, the State University of New York

★ "SUNY-Harlem" for Columbia University

★ "RU," "Old Queens," "Slutgers" for Rutgers University

★ "The ’Cuse" for Syracuse University

★ "Michelle's Farm" for Monash University

★ "The Bridge" for University of Cambridge, UK

★ "The House" for Morehouse College

★ "The Stanford of the East" for Harvard University

★ "The Joe" for Saint Joseph's University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

★ "The No" for California State University, Fresno (better known as Fresno State)

★ "The Rock" for Simon's Rock (Great Barrington, Massachusetts)

★ "The Shop" for University of Melbourne

★ "The U" for University of Miami football program, University of Utah, University of Minnesota

★ "The Vols" for University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, flagship of the UT system AKA "Rocky Top", "UTK" (sometimes said 'ŭt K'), and "The Volunteers"

★ "The Y" for Brigham Young University

★ "The Yard" for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

★ "The Zoo" for Kalamazoo College

★ "Trinners" for the Trinity College Dublin

★ "U of I" for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

★ "Tukkies" or "Tuks" for the University of Pretoria, South Africa

★ "UofL" for the University of Louisville

★ "U of M" for the University of Memphis

★ "U of M", also "UMich" for the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

★ "Ucla" (pronounced ''uk-luh'') for University of California, Los Angeles

★ "U Can't Finish" for the University of Central Florida

★ "UClA" (University of Colonial Avenue) for Virgina Western Community College

★ "U-Dub" for University of Washington, University of Western Australia, University of Wyoming

★ "UConn" for University of Connecticut

★ "UMass" for University of Massachusetts; when used without a campus identifier, usually refers to its main campus in Amherst

★ "Unc" (pronounced ''uh-nck'') for University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

★ "University of Southern Palatine" for William Rainey Harper College (in Palatine, Illinois)

★ "University of Wealthy Ontarians" for University of Western Ontario

★ "USyd" for University of Sydney

★ "Vandy" for Vanderbilt University

★ "V-Tech" for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

★ "WashU" for Washington University in St. Louis

★ "Wastern" for Western Michigan University

★ "Wazzu" for Washington State University

★ "Woo" for Western Oregon University

★ "Woopie Tech" for Worcester Polytechnic Institute

★ "’Zona" for University of Arizona

★ "ZooMass" for University of Massachusetts Amherst

See also

★ Athletic nickname ★ Australian national sports team nicknames ★ Epithet ★ Hypocoristic ★ Pseudonym ★ Sobriquet ★ Victory titles ★ List of sportspeople by nickname ★ List of entertainers by nickname ★ List of nicknames of British Army regiments ★ Regimental nicknames of the Canadian Forces ★ Nicknames in darts

★ List of English football club nicknames ★ List of hockey nicknames ★ List of monarchs by nickname ★ List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility ★ List of nicknames of historical personages ★ List of nicknames used by George W. Bush ★ List of nicknames used in cricket ★ List of nicknames for sports clubs and stadiums ★ List of U.S. Presidential nicknames ★ Legal name ★ List of military figures by nickname

References

1.

External links

★ The Whitney Pier Nickname Song

★ Individual nicknames and western handles that range from Fly Speck Johnny to Rattle Snake Jake from 19th Century Historical Deadwood SD Newspaper Archives

★ Midfield Dynamo cult website's nickname section