Some tabloid "news"papers refer to him by this nickname. A specific one I know is the New York Post. Is this a normal shortening of the name Jackson? Is it a play on words that I’m missing (like Wacko)? Just curious.
I always assumed the play on Wacko Jacko.
Just off the top of my head, I believe this originated with one of the London tabloids, which are in the habit of bestowing cutesy nicknames on celebs so that they can fit them into headlines more easily and also to facilitate wordplay. For example, I believe Paul McCartney is referred to as “Macca” in the tabloids there.
I thought they just removed the “ff” from the end.
I don’t know if your theory is correct, but I know McCartney got his nickname from Ringo and the nickname was/is used lovingly by his friends. I doubt any of Jackson’s friends calls him “Jacko” to his face.
A bit off-topic, but doesn’t the very idea of being friends with Michael Jackson just seem incomprehensible?
Well, unless you’re a fourteen year old boy, pretty much.
A bit off-topic, but doesn’t the very idea of talking to Michael Jackson’s face just seem incomprehensible?
I think Michael’s “friends” mostly see the top of his head.
Jacko is a common abbreviation in Australia. Australians seem to like abbreviating names and words and putting an ‘o’ on the end:
For example:
Jack = Jacko
Smoke Break = Smoko
Milk Delivery Man = Milko (from back in the 70s when there were such things)
Fish Monger = Fisho
Sterling = Sterlo
Robertson = Robbo
Hernderson = Hendo …
Am I the only one that thinks that he might possibly be innocent?
I’ve done my best to avoid following the embarrassment to humanity that is his trial, but I do understand there are some fishy things going on. Even if he’s innocent of these charges, I do think he’s a pedophile and dangerous to kids.
I think it’s quite possible he’s innocent. I believe that yes, he is a pedophile, but he doesn’t actually act on this all the way, and so technically should not be considered guilty.
Either way, even if he wasn’t a pedophile at all, he is still a creepy weirdo that really needs serious help.
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
To the best of my knowledge, yes.
Q: Why does Michael Jackson like twenty-eight-year-olds so much?
A: Because there are twenty of them.
thanks to Prairie Home CompanionI play cricket with “Jacko” AKA David Jackson.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with Michael, other than the happy serendipidy for the british tabloids,of “whacko” rhyming with 'Jacko".
David Jackson is (with the only exception of his brother Ged) the nicest guy I’ve ever met. He thinks Jacko is guilty.
I think he’s guilty by our rules, but innocent by his.
MiM
I did a Google Usenet search and the first reference to MJ as “Jacko” (and in the context of “Wacko Jacko” as it turns out) is from Nov. 21, 1991. Not as far back as I would have guessed.
Just FYI.
I’ve heard it as far back as 1988, in a video game called “Rockstar Ate My Hamster,” which included a character named “Wacky Jacko” who was obviously a Michael Jackson.
The earliest source I’ve found from a cursory search is this August 7, 1986, headline from The Courier News in Queenland, Australia: “Is Jacko Wacko?”
Skimming through the story, it is indeed about Michael Jackson.