By the Courtesy of The Symi Visitor

SYMI-KINGDOM OF THE NICKNAME
by Jimmy Gibbons
Symi is a kingdom of nonclemature in which ‘titles’ are passed down from father to son across the generations... To start at random there is Bubbles and Rainbow and Cork and Speed...
‘İt is a firm believe that there is nowhere else in the world where the sobriquet flourishs as strongly as it does in Symi.’ says German philologist Gunter Storch who, with his Danish wife Inge, an anthrapologist and prize-winning artist, has spent the last five months researching the originsof local names which have a lineage often streching back over centuries.
‘The tradition is that the nickname passes to a man’s firstborne male child. If there is no son, then the name dies with him.’ says Gunther.’What is delightfully refreshing about these names is the way that they fanfare identity and define and flesh out an individual in the fulles way. İn the rest of the world a person is so often reduced to a plastic ID tag, or worse, the truncation of an E-mail listing.’
So far he was unearthed and documanted nearly 250 nicknames including....

BUBBLES
‘Bubbles’ for example, was originally bestowed on a man who had a specialist role in sponge diving. He watched the surface of the water under which a diver was working, and from the size and volatility of the air bubbles, could tell whether or not the diver was in trouble.
Today, well over a century later , ‘Bubbles’ is the nickname of a local Blacksmiths.
The Genesis of ‘Rainbow’ goes back at least three centuries. The original Rainbow painted the ceilings of churches in celestial colours. Current ‘Rainbow ‘ is a stockbroker in Athens who visits Symi at least three times a year. He is proud to be addressed by his forbear’s nickname, which will one day be inherited by his son, a pilot wit Olimpic Airways.
‘Cork is of more recent vintage-no more than a century old-and was given to the man who carved the stoppers for ships’ casks. ‘Cork’ bobs on today in the person of Manolis, a fisherman who lives in Chorio.
‘Speed’ was the name given to a man who, two hundred years ago, was astonishingly fast at everything from sailing a boat to building a house. The name now belongs to a taxi driver who is more noted for his sedate pace and tendency to stop his cab in the middle of the road to have a leisurely conversation with his friends.
‘
Smoke, Punch, Stitch, Slice’

‘Smoke was a sailor who in the early 19th century returned from a voyage to Cuba with a ton of tabacco leaves, and set up a cottage industry manufacturing cigars. İt didn’t last long, but the name has endured and today’s ‘Smoke’ runs a souvenir shop.’Punch’ was a legendary Symi Character- a seaman famed for his prowes as a bare knuckle boxer who fight at professional venues in America. The story is that he had five thousand fights and never lost one, retiring in his 70’s as a wealthy man... and maybe he did, because today’s Punch is a Symiot who runs a chain of Jewellery store in Florida.
‘Stitch’ goes back two centuries to a craftsman who sewed ships’ pennants. ‘Stitch’ today? Approprıately enough he is a tailor called Demetrius.
‘Slice’ was the sort of Sweeny Todd of Symi-a barber, reputedly so skillful that he could shave a man, using a cutthroat razor, with just one stroke. He died 1910 at the age of 94 and is remembered today in the person of a baker.
‘Parrot, Birdman, Wink’
‘Parrot’ was a ship’s captain who regularly brought back consigments of these birds from the Amazon for sale on Symi. Today’s ‘parrot’ peals away as a bell- ringer.
‘Birdman’? He was a Symiot sailor who witnessed the wright Brothers’ first flight in Dayton, Ohio. Returning to Symi he made his own flying machine, launched it from the Vigla..... and walked away from the wreck un harmed. The contemporary’Birdman’ works in the Pedi Boatyard.
‘Wink’ was a one-eyed ship’s captain with an eye for the ladies. He lost one eye in Athens when onather man took exception to the wink that he gave to his wife. He kept on winking though until he died at 87, some say while making advances to his nurse.
Gunther’s resaerch, which he says is ‘ more fascinating that any other I have done’ is to be published in an international acedemic journal, and later expanded into a book... Which means that every Tom, Dick and Harry will be able to enjoy Symi’s historical status as the Kingdom of the nickname...
The Symi Visitor is a monthly newspaper published in Symi, Greek İsland.