Nicknames

Someone recently asked me about my nicknames, as I have so many of them.

I’ve had several nicknames in my lifetime. The latest nickname is “The Duke”. I like this one the best because it is the same nickname given to one of my all-time favorite actors; John Wayne.

Other sobriquets given to me in the past have been: Punky, Pizzazz (later shortened to Zazz), Daffydill and The Beach Bum (AKA “That Drunk on the Beach”).

Why “The Duke”?

In September 2005, a good friend that I had met while serving in the Army and stationed in Africa, passed away. His full nickname was “Spook, The King of Grossness”. It was shortened to “Spook” by his close friends and the local Eritrean Bar Whores. Actually, it was a bar whore that gave him the nickname of “The Spook”. It is a bastardization of the Tigrinya word for Good – “tsebuke”.

After the Spook died, I was offered the Kingship. They thrice presented me a kingly crown, which I did thrice refused saying that it rightfully belonged to the “Prince of Grossness”, Go-Go Grossmach. The Prince echoed my comments that neither one of us were worthy of the honor. The Prince said that “The King is dead and no one could ever replace him”.

Later, another friend of “the Spook” mentioned the following in one of his emails:

Duke: “A nobleman with the highest hereditary rank, especially a man of the highest grade of the peerage in Great Britain”.

"Zazz should henceforth be known as the “Duke of Grossness”.

It sounded good to me so I accepted the title.

The Beach Bum