Please enlighten me!

Recently I had a chat with my Welsh friend whose comment's bugging me. He said that in late 80s, Australian comedian Barry Humphries had a column in Private Eye. His column was very funny and also referring himself as Bazza. Unfortunately my friend isn't interested in pop music and unable to answer my question.

I wonder NME and others mocked Humphires and started calling Morrissey as Mozzer/Moz.

Can anyone enlighten me on this, please?

I don't know why, but the British seem to have a unique way of nicknaming certain kinds of names. Some examples:

Morrissey - Mozzer, Mozza
Paul McCartney - Macca
Paul Gascoigne (footballer) - Gazza
Martin Rossiter - Rozzer (obvious reference)

In other words, I don't think there's a direct connection, but I could be wrong.

Did the Australians take their cue from the British, or the other way 'round, or...?

Cheeky little jumbuck

Hello, by the way.

I've always wondered whether Edna Everage's trademark gladioli had any connection with Morrissey's one-time props. (I like the joke from The Goodies episode 'Saturday Night Grease' when Bill Oddie says he prefers Edna to Olivia Newton-John, Tim Brooke-Taylor's crush in the story - 'Atleast Edna's a real woman!')

Yes, Australians use the -azza/-ozza type of diminution very freely, as well as the ironic nickname, such as Shorty for a tall person and Blue for a red-head, etc. I don't know where it comes from, but some people suggest Ireland rather than England as the source.

Barry Humphries also wrote the character Bazza McKenzie who appeared in 'The Adventures of Barry McKenzie' in 1972 (film starring Barry Crocker, Spike Milligan, Peter Cook, etc. and set in London.)

Re: Cheeky little jumbuck

Thank you very much for your contributions. It's very interesting to hear different theories and anecdotes and hope more to come.

I remember someone said once that the reason Aussies contract their words ('ute' - utility vehicle, 'barby' - bar-b-q, etc), is because it's so damn hot there they're too worn out to form proper sentences. Hmmm....