ABSTRACT
Military or cultural invasions commonly generate blasons populaires, or popular stereotypes, and semantic derogation in the form of nicknames or distortions of proper names. The Moorish expansion and conquest of parts of Europe from the eighth century generated xenophobic animus against Muslims, especially in two ways. The first was the predictable application of such terms as heathen, pagan, and infidel to these peoples. Less expected were the various corruptions of the name of the prophet Mahomet that came to be used throughout the Middle Ages.
