Yeah....I've had some strange nicknames since 1961:

"Markie" :

An obvious one for a 6 year old! Some time during my first three years of school (1967-1969), two of my school-mates, Beverley Holtzhausen and Jeanette Leiberum sang "I love you Markie, You're just the guy for me..." to the tune of (South African vocal group) Four Jacks & A Jill's "I Love You Timothy".

"Fokkin' Kommunis" :

Afrikaans for "F-ing Communist" - a charming name given to the members of my small clique by our commanding officers during my two dark years of National Service with the South African Defence Force (mid-1979 to mid-1981). The name referred to our anti-apartheid opinions and sentiments.

"Hond" :

Afrikaans for "Dog". I guess I did some...strange...things during my first year at university in 1982!

"Anjin San" :

Like the previous nick-name, this one was given to me by university friend, Francois Vorster in early 1983. He took the name from the TV series "Shogun", and apparently it is Japanese for "navigator".

"Mof-Kop" :

Another Afrikaans charmer given to me by future brother's-in-law when they first met me back in late 1983. The name referred to my long hair and was the product of their own gender insecurity! ;-)

"Pautz Savage" :

In 1989 I spent a year in the UK. During that period I started getting into my genealogy and traced the family roots to Pomerania, once part of Prussia but (since WW-II) now western-Poland. My oldest friend, Piers Relly was also in London at that time and, because of the Polish connection, started calling me "Pautzavich". This soon morphed from Pautzavich to "Pautz Savage" and (being extremely well read) Piers then combined that with a bit of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In the third act, after Mark Antony gives way to grief and admits a desire for revenge for the murder of his friend and emperor, he then predicts war with the words, "Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war". Piers bastardised this to "Pautz Savage! And let slip the hounds of plentitude". Strange but true! By the way, to "cry havoc", in the Shakespearean context, meant to give an army the order to pillage. Since that time, the phrase has come to signify "to sound an alarm or warn of disaster". To "let slip the dogs of war" is to unleash the horrors of war. We can thank Shakespeare for coming up with the dogs of war figure of speech that refers to wartime devastation. Over the centuries, dogs of war also developed into a synonym for mercenaries, soldiers-for-hire whose warrior-ways are governed by their wages.

"Morosis" :

On returning to South Africa in 1990. I started working with Sas Sassenberg at the Groman Consulting Group in Pretoria. During our Groman years, Sas and I were keen competitors for the company's most prestigious annual award, the "Korsakoff Floating Trophy". All the long nights we spent working hard to win the award led to MANY...rough...mornings! The regular post-Korsakoff depression led Sas to brand me "Mister Morosis", and sometimes "Pister Morosis". The bald bastard still calls me "Morosis"! ;-)

"Pous" :

The Afrikaans translation of "Pope". But actually came about from playing with the words of a phrase I used to use a lot in the early 90's: "Alles is proes"... sanitised to "pous"!

"Spitz" :

An ex-colleague at Deloitte & Touche in Johanesburg, Chris Kruger gave me this one. It relates to the Olympic swimming hero, Mark Spitz who at the 1972 Munich games won an unprecedented seven gold medals and broke seven world records. After all that beer, Chris obviously needed some form of mental cue to remember my name!! ;-)

"Loop & Val" :

After a wild scuba diving weekend at Sodwana Bay my friends Chris Kruger and Louise Vosloo christened me "Loop & Val" (or "Walk & Fall" in English). This refers to the South African marathon phenomenon of the 80's, Matthews "Loop & Val" Matswaratu, who was given the nickname due to his uncomfortable, almost stumbling running style. I may have inherited this name due to my uncomfortable, almost stumbling style of dancing on this particular weekend! I vaguely recall a close encounter with a cupboard door and not much else! ;-)

"Manco" :

A name given to me by my Peruvian friend, Miguel Guzmán while I was reading Graham Hancock's "Fingerprints Of The Gods". I had just returned from a trip to Bolivia and Peru and the name referred to one of the two "Children of the Sun", namely Manco Capac and Mama Occlo, who established the capital of the Inca empire, Cuzco. To quote a certain Father Molina (in Hancock, 1995, p.55) "In the life of Manco Capac, who was the first Inca, and from whom they began to boast themselves children of the Sun and from whom they derived their idolatrous worship of the Sun, they had an ample account of the deluge. They say that in it perished all races of men and created things insomuch that the waters rose above the highest mountain peaks in the world. No living thing survived except a man and a woman who remained in a box and, when the waters subsided, the wind carried them...to Tiahuanaco [where] the creator began to raise up the people and the nations that are in that region.. ". I lovingly call Miguel "Viracocha". This means "Foam Of The Sea" and refers to the deity venerated by the Incas (including Manco Capac and Mama Occlo) as the Most Holy of all!

"Moles" :

Pronounced "Moe-Less", The Afrikaans for "rampage". In Prague my good friend Robert Brink and I were given the rhyming epithet's "Finesse" and "Moles". Rob was called "Finesse" because of his (apparent) lack of it, and I was "Moles" as - well - I guess I know how to party ;-)

"MAlfaRK" :

My latest persona, which refers to to my passion for Alfa Romeo cars...but MAlfaRomeoK sounded a bit strange! Coincidentally, MAlfaRK sounds just like "Mal Vark" which is Afrikaans for "Mad Pig"!!