This kind of nickname construction – anticipating part of a surname with an abbreviation of it – has always annoyed me. I cringe at it. Anyone else? No doubt there are many other examples of it…
Diz Disley, Clem Clempson, Mezz Mezzrow…
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Ozzy Osbourne is one. I don’t really follow sport, but there doesn’t seem to be much imagination in a lot of the nicknames there either: Phil Tufnell – Tuffers; Henry Blofeld – Blowers; Ian Wright – Wrighty.
I don’t know about that, with respect to football.
From my own club Everton, in the past we have had these nicknames:
Stuart Barlow – Jigsaw. Barlow was a forward, so-called because he went to pieces in the box.
Alan Harper – Bertie. He was a utility player who played in all sorts of positions.
Adrian Heath – Inchy. He was only 5′ 6″ tall.
Neil Pointon – Dissa. Rather obvious.
Graham Stuart – Diamond. A Londoner who was that sort of geezer.
Trevor Steven – Tricky. Referring to his peerless skill.
I don’t get Bertie.
Bertie Bassett – well-known (at least if you are over 45) logo of Bassett’s Liquorice Allsorts: https://recipereminiscing.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/the-history-of-bassetts-liquorice-allsorts-bertie-bassett/
Ah. That was my suspicion but I thought it was a bit tenuous. Still do.
Surely the best one from football is the old QPR/Palace/etc player
Fitz Hall – One Size
Wasn’t Duncan Ferguson’s nickname, due to his off the field activities, Duncan Disorderly?
Phil Tufnell used to have the more interesting one of “Cat” because he could always easily go to sleep in the dressing room during rain delays and suchlike. Can still be heard from time to time.
I think the worst nickname I have heard was for Welsh rugby player Leigh Halfpenny, you would think that name would give room for some inspiration, no “Halfpenners” …
Halfpenny’s nickname was ‘pence’ IIRC. The same team had ‘Bomb’ (Adam Jones) ‘The Count’ (Stephen Jones, who looked like Ray Reardon), Matthew ‘Smiler’ Rees and Martin ‘Nugget’ Williams.
I suppose Jonah Jones, jazz trumpeter, would qualify, born Robert Elliott Jones.
Besides him his quartet consisted of George “River Rider” Rhodes on piano, John “Broken Down” Browne on bass and Harold “Hard Nuts” Austin on drums. That’s what I call nicknames!
Jazz and blues, generally, are rich seams for nicknames. I proofread a book on jazz pianists once and the early 20th century was peopled by a Bugsy Malone world of characters with fabulously daft nicknames. Mind you, some nicknames in that world are pointless because rather than being an short way of referring to someone or an alternative name based on some characteristic, they became an add-on to the whole existing name – like a pointless turret. Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland is an example. Does anyone say ‘I’m a fan of ‘Blue’ Bland’? No, they don’t.
Darts is a particularly weird subset in the nicknames universe, because the names are wholly contrived – like fitting a marketing slogan in the middle of someone’s name – and are meant to be used AS WELL as the person’s actual name, not instead of it. Does anyone say, ‘Will The Power be playing today?’ No. They’s sat, ‘Will Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor be playing today’. Or ‘Is that Dave ‘Even More Powerful’ Bloggs over there?’
See also Dai ‘Fatbelly’ Gutbucket and Tommy ‘Even Fatter Belly’ Belcher.
There’s an early Gil Scott Heron album where Bernard “Pretty” Purdie is billed simply as Pretty Purdie.
You are jumping on a bit of a bandwagon here. Bandwagon. Bandwagon, yes? A few memories? Walls breaking down somewhere?
I’m wasted here…..
I was wasted last night. Must cut down.
I looked to see if he was born John Johnson (it happens), but it turns out he was born Johnny Mathis! Perhaps we should have a thread on which pop star with the same name as another pop star do you prefer…
Woody Woodmansey springs to mind, but I can’t say it annoys me.
Yes, that one’s really annoying. As is Steve ‘Boltz’ Bolton of Atomic Rooster.
The Skippies had a bowler called “Dizzy” – guess the surname?
Also “Punter” ??
Also “Iron Gloves” aka “Bacchus’ ??
Jason Gillespie, Ricky Ponting, Rod Marsh.
Correcto –
“Cement” ?
Flew as “Pigeon”
Boofhead -too simple!!
Biff Byford?
New York Dolls guitarist. So good (?) they named him twice
Sylvain Sylvain
Jeffrey Hammond Hammond?
Ex Wallabies Captain John Eales, who could do it all Nickname: Nobody.
Mr Bevan must have foreseen the possible problem for his drumming son and circumvented it by christening him Bev.
Not just nicknames, I feel sorry for the late Neville Neville (father of footballers Gary and Phil) who was born such.
Fabled Chuck Berry pianist Johnnie Johnson also seems to have been christened such.
Jimmy James, of Vagabonds fame, looks like another nickname
How about The “Neville NoBodies” ??
Is what Queensland coach (Not a bus) Paul “Fatty” called the opposition.
One I heard on the wireless the other day – The rugby player Billy Twelvetrees was known as 36 because he had an Irish coach.
Also ran 80s Brit poodle rockers (well, that’s a little harsh, in retrospect) FM’s keyboard player was the wonderfully named Didge Digital.
What were Mr and Mrs Digital thinking?