- Moniker
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A moniker (or monicker) is another term for a nickname, pseudonym, or cognomen. Since the mid-19th century, the title has been used as a personal or professional name, instead of the person's given name, for works of art, music, books, and performances, for example by clowns. In the 21st century, monikers are also commonly used in small subcultures, the Internet, and in broadcasting, usually on radio stations.
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Etymology
Although there are various theories about the origin of the word, the most widely accepted is that it comes from Shelta, the cant language of Irish travellers. The word is believed to have derived from the Irish word ainm, and became munik in Shelta. It had spread to London as an English slang word for "name" by 1851. The first line of the Lord's Prayer translated into a modern version of Shelta is: "Our gathra, who cradgies in the manyak-norch, we turry kerrath about your moniker."[1]
Clowning
The word "monicker", or more rarely "monikker", is among clowns, most often intentionally misspelled, with a 'c' in accordance with clown tradition that some words are inherently funny (and hence to be preferred over "unfunny" words). The "clown world" has widely embraced "monicker" as equivalent to a stage name or pseudonym. A monicker is considered by a professional clown to be sacrosanct by the traditional code of non-infringement. The monicker is considered to be an attribute of the character of the clown and not of the performer. Monicker, in clown usage, can generally be considered synonymous with the terms clown name and professional name. In declining use, it may mean a clown performer's personal nickname, (e.g., Joseph Grimaldi's monicker was "Joey") rather than the name of the performer's clown.
Computer science
The word "moniker" is used, mainly in Microsoft APIs, to describe objects that act as identifiers. The exact information contained in a moniker depends upon the context but it is usually composed of one or several of the following fields: numerical/textual identifier (similar to a GUID), name, path on a filesystem, url, etc. The moniker is also supposed to be immutable and creating a new identifier usually implies creating a new moniker. The word is used in COM,[2] in Microsoft Dynamics[3] as well as SQL Server[4] or ActiveX.[5]
See also
- Athletic nickname
- Bardic name
- Epithet
- Name brand
- Nickname
- Nom de guerre
- Sobriquet
- Stage name
References
- ^ moniker: Definition, Synonyms and Much More from Answers.com
- ^ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms679705%28VS.85%29.aspx
- ^ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb959633.aspx
- ^ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.sqlserver.dts.runtime.executables.add.aspx
- ^ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/178059
Categories:- Given names
- Informal personal names
- Nicknames
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