NationStates Jolt Archive


Why not American Sobriquets?

Good Lifes
23-12-2005, 07:01
Why don't we have sobriquets for American presidents? Here are a few suggestions.

Kennedy the Handsome
Johnson the Killer
Nixon the Crook
Ford the Replacement
Carter the Christian
Reagan the Pretender
Bush the Dazed
Clinton the Adulterer
Bush the Liar
Neu Leonstein
23-12-2005, 07:06
Well, they're kings in every other way, so why not. ;)

What is there to be said about Wilson, Roosevelt and Truman? How about Lincoln and Washington?
Eutrusca
23-12-2005, 07:07
Why don't we have sobriquets for American presidents? Here are a few suggestions.

Kennedy the Handsome
Johnson the Killer
Nixon the Crook
Ford the Replacement
Carter the Christian
Reagan the Pretender
Bush the Dazed
Clinton the Adulterer
Bush the Liar
Some of them already have "sobriquets:"

Tricky Dickie ( Nixon )
Slick Willie ( Clinton )

Those are the only two I can remember just now. :)
Good Lifes
23-12-2005, 07:15
Well, they're kings in every other way, so why not. ;)

What is there to be said about Wilson, Roosevelt and Truman? How about Lincoln and Washington?
Maybe

Washington the Truthful
Roosevelt the Bull Moose
Roosevelt the Socialist
Truman the Big BOOM
Wilson---Still thinking
Intangelon
23-12-2005, 07:36
Maybe

Washington the Truthful
Roosevelt the Bull Moose
Roosevelt the Socialist
Truman the Big BOOM
Wilson---Still thinking

Wilson the Racist
T. Roosevelt the Bully
Grant the Drunkard
Polk the Efficient
A. Johnson the Foolish
Buchanan the Idle
McKinley the Monarch
Intangelon
23-12-2005, 07:51
Some of them already have "sobriquets:"

Tricky Dickie ( Nixon )
Slick Willie ( Clinton )

Those are the only two I can remember just now. :)

William Henry "Tippecanoe" Harrison
William Howard "Big Bill" Taft (Also William "Big Bill" McKinley)
Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower
Eff Dee Are
Ell Bee Jay
Jay Eff Kay
Martin "Old Kinderhook"* Van Buren
Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson
Gerald "Mr. Nice Guy" Ford
"Give 'em Hell" Harry Truman
Calvin "Silent Cal" Coolidge
Grover Cleveland = "The Hangman of Buffalo"
James "Boatman Jim" Garfield
Rutherford "Rutherfraud" B. Hayes
Abraham "Honest Abe; The Rail Splitter" Lincoln
Millard "His Accidency" Fillmore
Zachary Taylor = "Old Rough and Ready"
J. Q. Adams = "Old Man Eloquent"
James Madison = "Father of the Constitution"
George Washington = "Father of Our Country; Sword of the Revolution"

I did a paper on Presidential nicknames in a history class a LONG time ago. These were just the ones I remember. I'm also a huge geek and have a mind like flypaper -- stuff sticks whether I want it to or not.

*Listed as one possible, though unlikely, etymology for "OK" in several dictionaries.
Intangelon
23-12-2005, 07:52
Besides, I think the US is best at nicknames. Sobriquets are an Old World thing. I like them, though. They remind me of how much I suck at Civilization II ("Intangelon the Unready...").
The Nazz
23-12-2005, 07:54
Hell, I've been calling Dubya "King George the Lesser" for years. :D
Anarchic Conceptions
23-12-2005, 08:40
William Henry "Tippecanoe" Harrison
William Howard "Big Bill" Taft (Also William "Big Bill" McKinley)
Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower
Eff Dee Are
Ell Bee Jay
Jay Eff Kay
Martin "Old Kinderhook"* Van Buren
Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson
Gerald "Mr. Nice Guy" Ford
"Give 'em Hell" Harry Truman
Calvin "Silent Cal" Coolidge
Grover Cleveland = "The Hangman of Buffalo"
James "Boatman Jim" Garfield
Rutherford "Rutherfraud" B. Hayes
Abraham "Honest Abe; The Rail Splitter" Lincoln
Millard "His Accidency" Fillmore
Zachary Taylor = "Old Rough and Ready"
J. Q. Adams = "Old Man Eloquent"
James Madison = "Father of the Constitution"
George Washington = "Father of Our Country; Sword of the Revolution"

I did a paper on Presidential nicknames in a history class a LONG time ago. These were just the ones I remember. I'm also a huge geek and have a mind like flypaper -- stuff sticks whether I want it to or not.

*Listed as one possible, though unlikely, etymology for "OK" in several dictionaries.

You make some of the Presidents sound like Mafia hitmen. :)
Kinda Sensible people
23-12-2005, 08:44
You make some of the Presidents sound like Mafia hitmen. :)

Blame it on the American People, they're the ones who came up with the names.

What this says about our government is a whole different question. :p
Gataway_Driver
23-12-2005, 09:19
Lincoln the holy ? Bad pun actually
Grave_n_idle
23-12-2005, 09:21
Why don't we have sobriquets for American presidents?

I think the reason might be simple.... you ask the average person what they'd call Bush.... and then you can't print the result....
Gataway_Driver
23-12-2005, 09:24
I think the reason might be simple.... you ask the average person what they'd call Bush.... and then you can't print the result....

Bush the whacker?
Amtray
23-12-2005, 09:25
Why is it I get the feeling that Dubya will always be remembered as Dubya..:rolleyes:
Harlesburg
23-12-2005, 09:42
Wilson the Racist
T. Roosevelt the Bully
Grant the Drunkard
Polk the Efficient
A. Johnson the Foolish
Buchanan the Idle
McKinley the Monarch
Buchanan the Collaborator
BLARGistania
23-12-2005, 09:45
Lincoln the holy ? Bad pun actually

very bad pun. I got a giggle out of it thought.
Swan-Upping
23-12-2005, 09:46
George "Chopper" Washington
Franklin "Plane Sale" Roosevelt
William "The Tripod" Clinton
George "The Father of George" Bush
George "They Tried to Kill My Dad" Bush
John "Watch Your Daughters" Kennedy
Grover "I'll Be Back" Cleveland
John "At Least Name A Highschool After Me" Tyler
Harlesburg
23-12-2005, 09:48
Lincoln the holy ? Bad pun actually very bad pun. I got a giggle out of it thought.
OMG
*Slaps*
BLARGistania
23-12-2005, 10:10
OMG
*Slaps*

slaps back with trout
Harlesburg
23-12-2005, 10:16
slaps back with trout
*Slaps wiith a Rubber Chicken*
BLARGistania
23-12-2005, 10:47
*Slaps wiith a Rubber Chicken*
*spanks with a cat*
Potaria
23-12-2005, 10:48
*spanks with a cat*

*fondles with a banana*

>.>
Harlesburg
23-12-2005, 10:55
*fondles with a banana*

>.>
*Gropes witha Lobster.* o_O
BLARGistania
23-12-2005, 10:56
Gropes witha Lobster.o_O
strokes with a goat.
Texoma Land
23-12-2005, 11:08
strokes with a goat.

So the rumors I heard are true?? ;)
BLARGistania
23-12-2005, 11:17
So the rumors I heard are true?? ;)
http://i11-0.facebook.com/pics/3/0/n10120330_6198.jpg

You want the other one?
Harlesburg
23-12-2005, 11:19
strokes with a goat.
*Carreses with a Butter Bean*
BLARGistania
23-12-2005, 11:21
*goes to sleep because its 3:30 am. Good spam tho*
Texoma Land
23-12-2005, 11:24
http://i11-0.facebook.com/pics/3/0/n10120330_6198.jpg

You want the other one?

Maybe. But without the goat.
Harlesburg
23-12-2005, 11:28
*goes to sleep because its 3:30 am. Good spam tho*
Yes, yes it was.

________________________________________________________________
I dont think American Presidents have been given the honour of Great etc simply because it would be too similar to the things they have fought against since it's creation.

Wasn't it suggested Washington should be the King of America but turned it down.

Ive heard George Dubya is being called King George now.....
Harlesburg
23-12-2005, 11:29
Maybe. But without the goat.
I tihnk he was referring to the missing horn up the posteriale............
Grace Lane
23-12-2005, 12:13
...
Martin "Old Kinderhook"* Van Buren
...
*Listed as one possible, though unlikely, etymology for "OK" in several dictionaries.

Earliest recorded use of OK is in the Boston Morning Post 23 March 1839... thought to be an abbreviation for 'oll correct'... there was kind of a craze at the time both for using iniials instead of words but also humourously mispelling things ... Martin Van Buren started using the abreiviation in his political campaign in 1840, but it is that campaign which means that OK became widely used and is still remembered...

This information is taken from the book 'POSH and other language myths' by Michael Quinion.
Intangelon
23-12-2005, 19:17
You make some of the Presidents sound like Mafia hitmen. :)

I don't, their contenporaries did -- those are all real nicknames.
Intangelon
23-12-2005, 19:19
Earliest recorded use of OK is in the Boston Morning Post 23 March 1839... thought to be an abbreviation for 'oll correct'... there was kind of a craze at the time both for using iniials instead of words but also humourously mispelling things ... Martin Van Buren started using the abreiviation in his political campaign in 1840, but it is that campaign which means that OK became widely used and is still remembered...

This information is taken from the book 'POSH and other language myths' by Michael Quinion.

Your source is ONE BOOK. Also, that's why I said that "Old Kinderhook" was but ONE of the POSSIBLE originations of "OK". Look around and read some more -- the origin of "OK" is apocryphal at best.
Anarchic Conceptions
23-12-2005, 22:28
I don't, their contenporaries did -- those are all real nicknames.

Really?


Never knew that.

Ta.
Grave_n_idle
23-12-2005, 22:31
Why don't we have sobriquets for American presidents?

Man, that's not even how you spell 'sock-puppets'.....
Neu Leonstein
24-12-2005, 02:44
Carter the Sensible?

I'm gonna catch a bit of flak for this one...but that just goes to show that sensibility is not a trait to be desired.:p
The Emperor Fenix
24-12-2005, 02:55
Tut tut we all know it's Jimmy "Historys Greatest Monsters" Carter.
Dobbsworld
24-12-2005, 02:58
I like 'Lincoln the Log'.