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English, French, and Polish Aliases of Criminals: Diversity of Inspirations in their Creation and Typical Nicknaming Schemes

Abstract

The present paper examines the topic of aliases of criminals, which seems to be understudied in linguistic research. Therefore, this article’s primary goal is to describe how criminals’ aliases are created and what are the differences and similarities in that process in English, French, and Polish. Firstly, the theoretical background concerning the topic of pseudonyms is presented. Then, the corpus gathered for this paper (available online: https://cutt.ly/1TRefrK), consisting of 206 pseudonyms (123 units in English, 42 in French, and 41 in Polish), is analyzed. In the analysis, four schemes are noted to be the most commonly used in creating pseudonyms of criminals. What is more, the inspirations behind the creation of criminals’ pseudonyms are scrutinized, and nine typical inspirations are distinguished. The article constitutes not only a detailed linguistic analysis of a significant number of criminals’ aliases but can also serve as an inspiration for other research on the topic.

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Category:
Magazine publication
Type:
Magazine publication
Published in:
Academic Journal of Modern Philology no. 14, pages 173 - 200,
ISSN: 2299-7164
Publication year:
2021
DOI:
Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.34616/ajmp.2021.14
Bibliography: test
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  2. Several nicknames in the corpus are based on names of various professions, of which the most frequent seem to be medical ones, which is visible in the examples the Killing Dentist [I, 65], the Docteur Petiot (Doctor Petiot) [II, 10], the Docteur Satan (Doctor Satan) [II, 11] and the Zimny Chirurg (Cold surgeon) [III, 41]. Twelve nicknames are based on the word 'butcher' 40 , for instance, the Butcher of Times Square [I, 35] and the Kansas City Butcher [I, 61]. open in new tab
  3. One French pseudonym is based on the profession of a forester, and that is the Forestier des Ardennes (Ardennes Forester) [II, 14]. In many cases, the profession names that founded aliases are, in reality, professional occupations of the criminals. For instance, Michel Lambin also known as the Berger du Caussols (Caussols Sheppard) [II, 4] or the Berger du Milieu (Local Shepherd) [II, 5] really was a shepherd. Albert Pel AKA the Horloger de Montreuil (Watchmaker of Montreuil) [II, 17] really was a watchmaker. In the research corpus, there is also a nickname composed of two profession names which is the Butcher Baker [I, 32]. open in new tab
  4. 4.6. Aliases based on criminals' modus operandi open in new tab
  5. The next group to be discussed composes of the nicknames based on the killers' modus operandi, which are typical habits common for all of the wrongdoer's crimes. The first subcategory contains aliases inspired by the manner of finding victims by the criminal. For example, the Mail-ordered Bluebeard [I, 77] seduced his female victims by responding to personal advertisements 41 . A similar situation took place in the case of the Tueur du Minitel (Minitel Killer) [II, 42], who contacted his victims via Minitel 42 . The Polish Zabójca z ogłoszenia (Killer from the Ad) [III, 39] killed people found through real estate advertisements 43 . This group of nicknames includes aliases based on crime weapons' names, to remind the Brick Moron [I, 27], the Tueur à l'oreiller (Pillow Killer) [II, 31] or the Ręcznikowy dusiciel (Towel Strangler) [III, 16]. The nickname Queen Poisonner [I, 93] also belongs to this category. Moreover, several nicknames emphasizing the fact that crimes were perpetrated in different places belong to this category too, e.g. the Cross-Country Killer [I, 39], the I-5 Killer [I, 58], or the I-5 Strangler [I, 59]. open in new tab
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