What's a ZUZU Anyway???

Glad you asked! To fully explain the meaning of ZUZU, I'll have to tell a little story...

One day, when me and my brother and two sisters were little (Peter wasn't born yet), we were all in the van, going to I-don't-remember-where. And, as was their way back then, my sisters were playing together. The game involved something to do with a TV show, and Grace, who apparently was running the TV, had decided it was time for a commercial break. The commercial went something like this...

"Have your kids ever played with...ZUZU?! Have your kids ever played with...ZUZU?! Have your kids ever played with...ZUZU?!....." etc.

Andrew and I looked at each other and laughed. What were our two crazy sisters doing now? Thinking to tease them a bit (I take my duty as the oldest very seriously), I asked them...

"What's a ZUZU anyway?"

To which Grace gave a sheepish grin and attempted to ignore me, embarressed at having her silliness pointed out. Well, Andrew and I didnt forget that, it was wierd even for her, and continued to laugh about ZUZU and what it was and stuff like that.

Oh yes, an important note: Joy was 3 at the time I think, possibly 4, and was annoyed at our making fun of what she thought was the best game ever.

Anyhow, as I mentioned before, I was not so quick to forget ZUZU. I would tease my sisters about it constantly: if I was walking past their room and saw them playing with dolls (a very common sight), I would barge in and snatch one up and say, "Is his name ZUZU? Is she ZUZU? How about this one?" And of course, they were none too pleased with this, in fact they were downright annoyed and I assume I was told on numerous times.

Back to my earlier statement about Joy's age.

Joy, being the youngest, never knew all the words we big kids used, and it frustrated her very much. If you called her something in a teasing way and she didnt know what the word meant, even if it was a compliment, she'd get very upset and go tell on the offender. My mom always found out about every little insult or annoyance, and I very often got into some sort of trouble for my share of name-calling, face-making, toy-snatching, and the like. And, due to my experience in such areas, I kept trying to find ways I could annoy without getting in trouble. A very difficult job, let me assure you. But, in dedication to my duty as the oldest, I made the neccessary sacrifices ;).

Now, zap back to the times I annoyed my sisters by asking if their dolls were named Zuzu.

I quickly learned that the nature of my usage of the word ZUZU brought some very negative connotations to the mind of my youngest sister. She took very serious offense at it. And so, at a time which I do not remember for an occassion that I forgot, I tried it on Joy. Of course, she took full offense, burst into angry tears, and stormed off to tell our mom about what mean old Nicholas just called her. The effect was something like this:

Joy--"MOMMY! NICHOLAS CALLED ME A ZUZU!!!!!!! WAH!!!!!!"
Mom--"Ignore him, Joy, Zuzu doesnt really mean anything."

If I could describe the joy that swelled within me at this newfound power, believe me when I say I would, but words fail me.

And thus, ZUZU was born.

Pretty soon, I extended my targets of the name from Joy to Andrew and Grace as well. They caught on, and soon they called each other ZUZUs. ZUZU came to mean anyone or anything stupid or unlikeable, and when something undesirable happened, it came to be called ZUZUish. My parents eventually caught on, and now they joke about ZUZU too. I taught John, now ZUZU is a part of his vocabulary. He taught some others, I'm not sure who exactly though I know Eric uses it, and I've taught people all the way from California. Oh yes, an interesting side note, Zuzu is the Arabic nickname for Joseph. We met a few Zuzus when we went to Lebanon, and that's people with the actual name, not just the ZUZUs. It was very hard not laughing when we were introduced to them (terrible, ain't it? :D).

Anyway, that's the story behind ZUZU, and the way that it's to be used.

So, with this enlightening knowledge, go out there and perpetuate the ZUZU legacy!

Become a ZUZU today!!!!!!