What is in a Nickname? Nicknames and Identity in the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa

This study is an analysis of the nicknames of the football teams that participated in the 2010 football World Cup which took place in South Africa. The objective is to explore how countries and nations emphasize and substantiate their identity using nicknames. Concepts like audience design and mask theory are employed to account for how nicknames are formed. The Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) provides a theoretical as well as empirical basis for the analysis of the data. Keywords: Nicknames; Sports language; Audience design; CDA