-zza

zza English Etymology Originally Australian. From a mutation (specifically a zetacism) of the underlying rhotic consonant /ɹ/ to /z/ (see en -z#Etymology_2 -z), combined with en -a#Etymology_10 -a, a non-rhotic pronunciation spelling of en -er#Etymology_8 -er (the Oxford colloquial clipping suffix). The template was popularized in print during the 1960s and 1970s by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries, whose satirical comic strip The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (first published in 1964 in the British magazine Private Eye) yielded the eponymous archetype Bazza, cementing the suffix in the Commonwealth lexicon. Suffix en suffix en Australia New Zealand UK Forms nicknames, especially of personal names. en Barry Bazza Bazza en Sharon Shazza Shazza en Charlotte Chazza Chazza en 1971 Barry Humphries Bazza Pulls It Off! More Adventures of Barry McKenzie Melbourne Sun Books 1 Usage notes Typically applied to words where the stressed vowel is followed by an /ɹ/. The root is shortened to the stressed syllable, with the suffix replacing the rhotic consonant and truncating the remainder of the word. Derived terms en Anagrams en azz azz