Zimbricchio is the italianization of the name that my mother gives (secretly) to our electrician because he's a somewhat funny,short man.
In fact, Zimbricchj is a word that comes from an unspecified Southern Italian dialect or slang (see below) term that means, according to my mother, "a short person" with a point of nice littleness as well as of mockery.
This word probably comes from Napoli (though Gennaro Prota from Naples claims that it does not belong to his dialect), where she attended University, or from her native city of Foggia in Puglia.
Next phone call I will ask.
The reason why I have been using this moniker is that it was the first word that came to my mind when I had to choose a user name for an e-mail account.
Yet in spite of it, I do not feel short since I have a height of 1.80 metres (5 feet 11), except for one period when I lived with two huge Dutch guys who convinced me I was, the average height in Holland being 1.82 metres (world's highest!).
However, several pieces of evidence induce one to think that Zimbricchio was already active prior to that period.
The main evidence that the moniker is not related to my size is that my height is well above Southern Italy's average of 1.65 metres (according to my opinion), as well as above the Italian national average of 1.77, which coincides with that of the United States.
Thanks to Carrie for the corrections.