Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Lesson 466. The title of today's lesson is the
difference between alias and pseudonym. Okay. If somebody wants a screenshot.
All right. Now's the time. All right. Let's get right to it. Both alias and pseudonym are fake
or false names. So there could be a little bit of crossover with these two , but there's also
some clear differences the way we're more like when we're more likely to use alias and when
we're more likely to use pseudonym . All right. Let's continue. An alias is more often used as an
assumed name. Assumed here is used in the sense as like to deceive or to lie. Aliases are often
used by criminals and spies, especially if one's real name is found out that person could be in
trouble or possibly even in danger. You know if they're a spy they don't want somebody to find
out their real name. They need to keep a fake name for a reason. The word alias derived from
Latin. And in Latin it means another time or another place or under different circumstances.
All right. Let's continue. A pseudonym is a name usually made up. So it's usually created by the
person to protect one's privacy. That's sometimes the reason they do it or simply because it is a
more attractive or more interesting name that could be a benefit to one's career
or field. Thus, you know a pen name, that's usually what a writer uses nom de plume. That's
like the French version of pen name. So but sometimes we use that in English as well.
Stage name. All right. Stage name would be a pseudonym for you know, like actors or
singers or something like that. So performers if they use a name that's not their real name.
A lot of times their agent actually even tells them to change their name for one reason or
another. Maybe their original name was too boring or too long or just didn't sound right. They
wanted a cooler or more interesting name. Then they might create another stage name. Okay. Good.
The Internet handle. Yeah. So many people are on the Internet these days. Some of them want to
keep their privacy too. So sometimes they'll just make up one name. That's you know, connected to
their website and people will know them by that. So that could be another type of pseudonym. So
etc. are types of pseudonyms. So all of these are pseudonyms. Okay. So pseudonym though you know,
it's not so much that they really.... they really want to lie to you. It's more like
privacy or for it's just more interesting. Alias is where ... that's one that could be
more danger and they're really being more deceptive. It could have something to do
with the law or spying or something like that. All right. Let's continue. So remember pseudo,
as a prefix means fake and derives from Greek and "onoma" that also derives from Greek.
It means "name" in Greek or maybe it was in the older Greek that it meant name. So he said , so
basically it's fake name. So pseudo like sometimes you hear about a pseudoscience is a fake science.
Or a science that we don't think really deserves the name as a real science. We sometimes say
something could be a pseudoscience. Okay. Good. And of course this all turned into pseudonym by
the time it got to English. So they, they kind of combined the two and it became pseudonym.
All right. And here we got seven examples of just the way you may hear it used.
The character, James Bond had an alias as OO7. So you know him. He was a spy. Perfect for alias.
Yeah. We don't usually use pseudonym. Even though it wouldn't be entirely wrong but you're much more
likely to use alias in this situation. That spy has passports from many countries listed under
different aliases. Again, a spy. That con man used , used to use different aliases when he
tried to trick people out of money. So this would be like a criminal. You could understand why they
would want to use a fake name. Okay. Number four here. That fugitive tried to keep a low profile
and checked into a hotel under an alias. You know, so maybe he's on the run from the law.
Maybe escape from jail or maybe they're just looking for him. So he checked into a hotel
under a fake name. So he... in this case you're more likely to use alias.
Okay. All right. Number five here. Stephen king wrote several books under the pseudonym
Richard Bachmann. Yeah. Or again here. You could have said pen name too or nom de plume. If you
wanted to. Number six. Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta. goes under the pseudonym, Lady Gaga.
Actually her name's pretty long. Maybe that's a reason why she changed it. She has a very long
name here. Okay but that's a good example. And we got number seven here. Catherine Elizabeth Hudson
is professionally known under the pseudonym, Katy Perry. Okay. Great. So now you got a better
feel. You know probably performers or actors or writers we're a little more likely to use the word
pseudonym with. You know, which basically means a false name. And with alias, we're more likely
use it if it's something involving the law or spies, criminals. Anything like that. Okay. I
hope you got it. I hope it was clear. I hope it was informative. Thank you for your time Bye-bye.