The Name Game: Leonard Cohen Edition
Sobriquets, Aliases, Bynames, Cognomens, Appellations, Alternative Names, and Monickers Denoting Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen is a nickname magnet.1
It appears, in fact, that for a journalist to make his bones as a pop music critic, he or she must endow Leonard Cohen with a nickname - and not just any nickname. The prototypic template calls for a descriptive phrase of two to six words that is at least a tad awkward to articulate.
Unable to find a definitive list of Leonard’s nicknames, I’ve begun a patently incomplete catalog at Leonard Cohen, AKA - The Nicknames.2
While I have no statistical evidence, my observation is that the most common use of these names is as an element in phrases such as “is known as,” “has been called,” and “has been labeled.” Even when they are used alone, these names are typically set off by quotation marks.
Their usage, in short, is rarely casual and often the writer or speaker is consciously using one or another of these titles to make a point, as in this review of Songs of Leonard Cohen, “He [Leonard Cohen] didn’t earn the nickname “the master of erotic despair” for nothing.”
To put things in perspective, the earliest reference to that terms is a reference to an ad in a National Lampoon published over 30 years ago. 3
The list of Leonard Cohen nicknames is available at Leonard Cohen, AKA - The Nicknames
Footnotes
- The nicknames have multiplied despite the fact that “Leonard” seems a fine name. For example,
Leonard!
Leonard, Leonard bo Beonard Bonana fanna fo Feonard
Fee fy mo Meonard, Leonard!Adapted from “The Name Game” recorded by Shirley Ellis ~back~
- This list originated at LeonardCohenSearch ~back~
- My personal preference - unsupported by anything other than my whimsy - is to believe that what was remembered as an ad was actually a Lampoon parody. ~back~
I was just looking around the internet searching for anything I could find on Camp Cyokamo. I read your entry on the camp. To answer your question about the song just in case you never received an answer: The camp does not collectively sing it anymore. I can remember hearing it as a kid at camp. (I’m 21 now, so that should give you a point of reference.) I wish I had it memorized. It is one of my favorite places on the face of the earth. I’m glad to see you still have the song and I will gladly pass it on to some of the present deans at camp. In conclusion, if you get the chance you should go visit good ol’ Cyokamo. It truly is a great camp.
Comment by Anonymous — April 2, 2008 @ 11:38 pm