moniker slang.
(ˈmɒnɪkə(r))
Also monarch, monekeer, monica, monick(er, monniker, etc.
[Origin unknown.]
A name, a nick-name. Also (rare) as v. trans., to apply a name to (a person).
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 218/2 ‘What is your {oqq}monekeer{cqq} (name)?’—Perhaps it turns out that one is ‘White-headed Bob’, and the other ‘Plymouth Ned’. 1851 [see ream a.]. 1879 Macm. Mag. Oct. 502/1 While at the station they asked me what my monarch (name) was. 1882 Sydney Slang Dict. 6/1 Monniker, a person's name (often assumed). Ibid. 10/1 The padding ken of Sally Hicks, who's got a new moniker, which is Lushing Loo. 1885 M. Davitt Prison Diary I. xvi. 151 Many of them having a fresh ‘monicker’ (name) each conviction. 1895 Times 11 Nov. 3/4 The van is alright; I have had the ‘monnick’ (slang word for name) taken off it. 1903 ‘J. Flynt’ Rise Ruderick Clowd i. 46 In the—Ward ‘monakers’, or nicknames, mean more than they do in uptown communities. 1907 J. London Road (1914) 169 His ‘monica’ was Skysail Jack. 1926 J. Black You can't Win ix. 111 Whether it was his appearance or his careful manner of speech that got him his monoger, ‘The Sanctimonious Kid’, I never knew. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid v. 50 Eileen, or something, that was the sister's monick. 1936 M. Franklin All that Swagger lii. 488 ‘I thought it was mimosa.’ ‘That's its trade moniker; it's home name is wattle.’ 1938 Amer. Speech XIII. 195, I monikered him (gave him his moniker, or tramp name). 1944 Sun (Baltimore) 7 Aug. 2/7 He came by the name of Omar N. (the N being for Nelson) through his father's searching for a ‘distinctive’ moniker for his offspring. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Feb. 84/1 Henry Handel Richardson herself..was able to hide behind the male signature on her books (her maiden name wedded to two favourite family monikers). 1960 Melody Maker 31 Dec. 6/3 Oliver Cool is the pseudonym of singer Larry Ellis, who found he won more success when he adopted the ‘far-out’ monniker. 1964 Punch 2 Dec. 826/1 Mildly bitter moniker given to Swiss-based moneymen. 1968 L. Morton Long Wake i. 18 The documents came to Jack Roberts for my ‘Monica’. 1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 78/3 Slim and his brother helped bail the pilot out. The Airplane Kid moniker followed. |