Riley B King

1 5.8

A US blues guitar player and singer called B.B. King who is known for guitar playing full of feeling

proper noun
/ˈraɪli biː kɪŋ/

: Riley B. King

The expressive guitar style of Riley B King influenced generations of artists.

Examples

Many consider Riley B King to be one of the greatest blues musicians of all time.
Fans around the world mourned the death of Riley B King in 2015.
The legendary blues musician Riley B King influenced countless artists.
Many consider Riley B King the king of blues.
Many consider Riley B King to be one of the greatest blues musicians of all time.
The expressive guitar style of Riley B King influenced generations of artists.
Fans around the world mourned the death of Riley B King in 2015.

Synonyms

B. B. King

vsRiley B King

2 3.5

An American guitar player and singer famous for blues music

is the same person but uses the birth name instead of the stage name

Surface Forms

Riley B King main

B.B. King main

Morphology

Riley + B + king

This string is a personal name (Riley B. King = B.B. King) whose referent (a specific blues musician) cannot be inferred from the parts: 'Riley' is not a meaningful lexical cue, 'B' is just a letter, and 'king' as a common noun would mislead learners toward royalty. Proper names are language-specific and non-compositional, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not predict the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Riley B King was his birth name, but one popular story says he got the stage name 'B.B.' while playing on Memphis's Beale Street, where people called him 'Blues Boy' and the nickname was shortened to B.B. King. So today Riley B King is usually known by the stage name B.B. King, the famous blues guitarist and singer.