 It seems that term "paparazzo" was coined by  Federico Fellini (qv)s friend and scriptwriter  Ennio Flaiano (qv), who seemingly derived from a novel by British  Victorian novelist George Gissing (qv) ("By the Ionian Sea"). It  was the last name of the owner of an Hotel in the Italian city of  Catanzaro (Calabria) in southern Italy where George Gissing (qv)  was staying at. In Italian last names with double zs have often a  funny connotation to the (Fantozzi for instance).