so-called

English

Etymology

so +‎ called

Pronunciation

• enPR: sōʹkôld́, IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊˌkɔːld/
• IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊˌkɔld/

Adjective

so-called (not comparable)

1. So named; commonly called by such a name, often with a connotation that the item is not worthy of that name.

   These so-called "assistants" are making our jobs harder, not easier!

2. So named; commonly called.

   the so-called Ising model

   • 1988, Ingrid Coetzee, ‎Gerhard-Mark Van der Waal, Conservation of Culture: Changing Context and Challenges

     Another Canadian example is that of the so-called Halfback Program initiated in the province of Ontario. With this scheme state lottery tickets with which no prizes are won retain 50% of the value of their initial cost […]

   • 2010, Matty McEire, Looking for Sheville, Dog Ear Publishing (→ISBN), page 78:

     ... I hadn't met any straight women at the gay bars — a few so called "fag hags" fraternizing with the boys, of course, but ...

Translations

so named, but wrongly so

• Albanian: ashtuquajtur (sq)
• Armenian: այսպես կոչված (ayspes kočʻvac)
• Catalan: anomenat (ca), dit (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 所謂／所谓 (zh) (suǒwèi), 所谓 (zh) (suǒwèi)

• Danish: såkaldt
• Dutch: zogenaamd (nl), zgn. (nl)
• Estonian: nõndanimetatud
• Finnish: niin sanottu (fi), niin kutsuttu
• French: soi-disant (fr)
• German: sogenannt (de), sog. (de)
• Greek: αποκαλούμενος m (apokaloúmenos), λεγόμενος (el) m (legómenos), δήθεν (el) (díthen)

  Ancient: λεγόμενος (legómenos)

• Hungarian: úgynevezett (hu)
• Italian: cosiddetto (it)
• Japanese: 所謂 (ja) (iwayuru)
• Korean: 소위 (ko) (sowi), 이른바 (ko) (ireunba)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: såkalt

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Persian: کذایی (fa) (kazâyi)
• Polish: tak zwany (pl) (tzw. (pl))
• Portuguese: assim chamado m, chamado (pt) m, dito (pt) m
• Russian: так называ́емый (ru) (tak nazyvájemyj) (т.н. (t.n.))
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тако̀зва̄нӣ m

  Roman: takòzvānī (sh) m

• Sindhi: نام نهاد
• Slovene: tako imenovan
• Spanish: llamado (es)
• Turkish: sözde (tr)
• Ukrainian: так зва́ний m (tak zványj)
• Vietnamese: cái gọi là
• Yiddish: אַזוי גערופֿן (azoy gerufn)

so named

• Armenian: այսպես կոչված (ayspes kočʻvac)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 所謂／所谓 (zh) (suǒwèi), 所谓 (zh) (suǒwèi)

• Czech: takzvaný (cs) m
• Danish: såkaldt
• Dutch: zogenaamd (nl), zgn. (nl)
• Finnish: niin sanottu (fi), niin kutsuttu
• French: dénommé (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: sogenannt (de)
• Greek: αποκαλούμενος m (apokaloúmenos), λεγόμενος (el) m (legómenos)
• Hungarian: úgynevezett (hu)
• Italian: cosiddetto (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: såkalt

• Russian: так называ́емый (ru) (tak nazyvájemyj)
• Ukrainian: так зва́ний m (tak zványj)

Further reading

• “so-called”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• So-Called. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved on 6 June 2016.