# Geuzennaam



## eno2

Geuzennaam naar het Engels, iemand? Translation to English, somebody?

  I don't find the English word, though I vaguely remember have encountered one, once, long ago.

Meaning of Geuzennaam:
purposely identifying with a mock name as a honorary title.

The context where I used it was in the Cultural café about the term "Politically Correct", in Dutch abbreviated as POCO, in English as PC, where I said that for me I consider it to be a "geuzennaam".


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## eno2

Elucidation: 
Meaning of Geuzennaam:
purposely identifying with a mock name *BY TAKING IT UP* as a honorary title.


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## Rutger_W

The best I can come up with in the context you describe is to actually take it up by saying something like "Too bad if you don't like it but 'Politically Correct' is my middle name". To "wear something as a badge of honor" might also work in some cases.

The wikipedia entry for 'Geuzennaam' links to 'Reappropriation' but that's more of a description of the phenomenon.

My conclusion would be that there isn't a direct equivalent in English but I am sure there are more relevant words and phrases in this context.


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## eno2

Thanks for that, good link. Under "re appropriation" I read: "*battle name*". That could be useful.


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## Rutger_W

Ik vind "Geuzennaam" toch meer POCO dan "battle name" ;-) Which reminds me of the well known: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."


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## eno2

Wellicht ja, nu wel, maar toentertijd hebben de Geuzen wel hard gevochten.


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## Hans Molenslag

Gisteren ergens gelezen: _adopt _[a name]_ as a badge of pride._


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## Suehil

In English we also use the French 'nom de guerre'.


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## eno2

Het staat verbazend genoeg ook in de Dikke Online:


> in en vanwege de oorlog gebruikte schuilnaam



Wat er natuurlijk ontbreekt in uitdrukkingen als "nom de guerre" en "war name" is het element van het overnemen van een scheldwoord als "eretitel" voor jezelf en/of  je acties.


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## Hans Molenslag

Suehil said:


> In English we also use the French 'nom de guerre'.


Er zullen vast wel eens contexten voorkomen waarin een geuzennaam met _nom de guerre_ weergegeven kan worden, maar ik heb niet het idee dat het dezelfde begrippen zijn. Een geuzennaam slaat in de regel op leden van een bepaalde bevolkingsgroep en is oorspronkelijk een spotnaam. Die twee elementen ontbreken in definities en voorbeelden van _nom de guerre_.


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## bibibiben

Dit is misschien wel een interessant stukje. Gevonden op “Deplorables” as a “geuzennaam” (linguistic reappropriation):

"Today the 45th President of the United States will be inaugurated. I did not vote for him, and many of my friends voted not for him as much as against his opponent. I wish the new POTUS strength, guidance, and clarity of vision, as any POTUS has his work cut out for him right now.

His supporters, both the enthusiastic and the reluctant, are referring to themselves as “Deplorables”, or even, with a pun on a musical and classic novel, “Les Déplorables“. This is actually a classic example of “*linguistic reappropriation*” at work: Trump’s opponent, Hilary Clinton, had referred to Trump supporters — or indeed to the half of the country that doesn’t vote D — as “a basket of deplorables”. Trump supporters rallied around the insult and took it up as a “nom de guerre” (battle name). [I still believe that was the moment she lost the election.]

This phenomenon is actually quite old, and the Dutch language even has a word for such an insult reappropriated for self-identification: “*geuzennaam*“. The term goes back to the 16th Century, during the Spanish rule over the Lowlands."

_Nom de guerre _en _battle name _vallen wel in deze tekst, maar zij vinden niet per definitie hun oorsprong in beledigingen "reappropriated for self-identification". En dat is juist wel de essentie van _geuzennaam_.


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## eno2

Bedankt voor het delen.   Les déplorables...hahaha


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