CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
NEW WORDS: DRUB and SOBRIQUET
While doing his daily puzzles my husband Monte asked me if I could define sobriquet. I couldn’t, so I looked it up:
SOBRIQUET
If people start calling you “Mac” because you like to eat macaroni and cheese for every meal, then you not only have a strange diet, but you also have a sobriquet — in other words, a nickname.
A sobriquet (soh-bri-kay is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. It is usually a familiar name, 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 is of sufficient familiarity that the sobriquet can become more familiar than the original name. For example, Genghis Khan, who is rarely recognized now by his original name, Temüjin…Well known places often have sobriquets, such as New York City, often referred to as the Big Apple. The term can therefore apply to the nickname for a specific person, group of people or even a place.
Sobriquet is derived from the French word soubriquet. Sobriquets are often but not always humorous, so in order to pronounce this word, you might want to remember that the last syllable rhymes with play. Sobriquets are usually given to you by other people, but you can choose one for yourself if you want. If your name is Jennifer and you tend to introduce yourself as Jen, this also qualifies as a sobriquet.1
DRUB
I read drub in a political editorial and wondered what it meant. Again, I looked it up:
- to beat as with a stick; cudgel; club
- to defeat utterly, as in a contest
- to drum or stamp (the feet)
- to instill with force or repetition ⇒ The master drubbed Latin into the boys
noun
- a blow, as from a stick
Word Origin: C17: probably from Arabic dáraba to beat (2)
BOTH SOBRIQUET AND DRUB USED IN THE SAME SENTENCE
Having just completed a post on Wilson A. Bentley I realized that I could work both words into a sentence:
Wilson A. Bentley, a.k.a. Snowflake, was a Vermont farmer whose passion was snow crystals. His sobriquet was derived from his drubbing his experiments into his listener’s ears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
ADDITIONAL READING:
New Words: Kerfuffle & Gyre:
http://carolyncholland.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/new-words-kerfuffle-gyre/
Play Lexicographer: RIDICULOUSITY:
http://carolyncholland.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/play-lexicographer-ridiculousity/
Writers Die With Pen In Hand…:
http://carolyncholland.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/writers-die-with-pen-in-hand/
SOURCES
1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobriquet
2
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/drubbing
