Jazz (word)
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The origin of the word jazz is one of the most sought-after
Etymology
The similarity of "jazz" to "jasm", an obsolete slang term meaning spirit, energy, and vigor, and dated to 1860 in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (1979), suggests that "jasm" should be considered the leading candidate for the source of "jazz".
The word "jasm" appeared in Josiah Gilbert Holland’s second novel, Miss Gilbert's Career (1860), and meant “lively," and was used to describe the "inexpressible personal force of the Yankee".[1]
A link between the two words is supported by a February 18, 1916 article in the
"Jasm" derives from or is a variant of the slang term "jism" or "gism", which the Historical Dictionary of American Slang dates to 1842 and defines as "spirit; energy; spunk." "Jism" also means semen or sperm, the meaning that predominates today, making "jism" a
Compare the analogous relationship between the slang terms "spasm" 'a sudden burst of energy', as in spasm band, and "spaz(z)". Herbert Asbury names the "Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band", which appeared about 1895, as the first jazz band; he relates that a band of professional musicians who imitated their style and originally appeared, about 1900, under the same name, was, after the original Spasm Band turned up, billed as "Razzy Dazzy Jazzy Band".[3]
One source draws from the 1936 book The French Quarter by Herbert Asbury for the claim that there was a band in New Orleans in 1895 named the "Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band". This source also claims a connection to the French verb jaser, meaning to chatter, and that "to jass" was heard in New Orleans to mean 'to excite' or 'to pep up'.[4]
Baseball use
Baseball references were used by E.T. "Scoop" Gleeson in the San Francisco Bulletin.
On April 5, 1913, the Bulletin published an article by Ernest J. Hopkins entitled "In Praise of 'Jazz,' a Futurist Word Which Has Just Joined the Language."[5][6] The article, which used the spellings "jaz" and "jazz" interchangeably, discussed the term at length and included a positive definition.
"Jazz" (We change the spelling each time so as not to offend either faction) can be defined, but it cannot be synonymized. If there were another word that exactly expressed the meaning of "jaz," "jazz" would never have been born. A new word, like a new muscle, only comes into being when it has long been needed...This remarkable and satisfactory-sounding word, however, means something like life, vigor, energy, effervescence of spirit, joy, pep, magnetism, verve, virility ebulliency, courage, happiness – oh, what's the use? – Jazz.
In 2003, The Los Angeles Times reported on a librarian at New York University who said he found the word "jazz" used in a sports article from The New York Times of April 2, 1912. Under the headline "Ben's Jazz Curve" the article quotes baseball player Ben Henderson telling a reporter that he called his curve ball "the Jazz ball because it wobbles and you simply can't do anything with it."[7][5]
"Jazz" in the sense of pep and enthusiasm continued in use in California for several years before being submerged by its musical meaning.
Application to music
Dick Holbrook published his findings in Storyville magazine. These included
Blues Is Jazz and Jazz Is Blues...The Worm had turned – turned to fox trotting. And the "blues" had done it. The "jazz" had put pep into the legs that had scrambled too long for the 5:15....At the next place a young woman was keeping "Der Wacht Am Rhein" and "Tipperary Mary" apart when the interrogator entered. "What are the blues?" he asked gently. "Jazz!" The young woman's voice rose high to drown the piano....The blues are never written into music, but are interpolated by the piano player or other players. They aren't new. They are just reborn into popularity. They started in the south half a century ago and are the interpolations of darkies originally. The trade name for them is "jazz"....Thereupon "Jazz" Marion sat down and showed the bluest streak of blues ever heard beneath the blue. Or, if you like this better: "Blue" Marion sat down and jazzed the jazziest streak of jazz ever. Saxophone players since the advent of the "jazz blues" have taken to wearing "jazz collars," neat decollate things that give the throat and windpipe full play, so that the notes that issue from the tubes may not suffer for want of blues – those wonderful blues.
Examples in Chicago sources continued with the term reaching other cities by the end of 1916. By 1917 the term was in widespread use. The first known use in New Orleans, discovered by lexicographer
Theatrical journals have taken cognizance of the "jas bands" and at first these organizations of syncopation were credited with having originated in Chicago, but any one ever having frequented the "tango belt" of New Orleans knows that the real home of the "jas bands" is right here. However, it remains for the artisans of the stage to give formal recognition to the "jas bands" of New Orleans. The day of the "Stage Workers" annual masquerade ball, which is November 23, the stage employes of the city are going to traverse the city led by a genuine and typical "jas band." Just where and when these bands, until this winter known only to New Orleans, originated, is a disputed question. It is claimed they are the outgrowth of the so-called "fish bands" of the lake front camps, Saturday and Sunday night affairs...However, the fact remains that their popularity has already reached Chicago, and that New York probably will be invaded next. But, be that as it may, the fact remains the only and original are to be found here and here alone. The "boys behind the scenes" have named their parade the "Jas parade." It's going to be an automobile affair with the actors and actresses of the various theaters right behind the band. The ball is to be at the Washington Artillery.
It is not clear who first applied "jazz" to music. A leading contender is
Trombonist
If the chronology of the Original Dixieland Jass Band is correct, it did not receive the "jass" name until March 3, 1916, which would be too late for it to be the originator. In a 1917 court case concerning song copyright, members of what became the O.D.J.B. testified under oath that the band played in Chicago under the name Stein's Dixie Jass Band.
In Volume II of its Supplement (1976) and hence in the 1989 Second Edition, the Oxford English Dictionary provided a 1909 citation for the use of "jazz" on a gramophone record of "Uncle Josh in Society." Researcher David Shulman demonstrated in 1989 that this attestation was an error based on a later version of the recording; the 1909 recording does not use the word "jazz". Editors acknowledged the error, and the revised entry of "jazz" in OED Online changed the date of this quotation with a note about the mistake. But many secondary sources continue to show 1909 as the earliest known example of the word based on the OED's original entry.
The
Other meanings
In an 1831 letter,
Other etymological proposals
In an August 5, 1917 article from the
One story associates jazz with the first part of the word 'jasmine'. The French brought the perfume industry with them to New Orleans, and the oil of jasmine was a popular ingredient. To add it to a perfume was called "jassing it up." The strong scent was popular in the red-light district where a working girl might approach a prospective customer and say, "Is jazz on your mind tonight, young fellow?"[10]
S. Frederick Starr states the same use of jezebel, rooted in the Old Testament. In New Orleans, the term was changed[when?] to "jazzbelle", with pimps or other males called "jazzbeau".[6]
DuBose Heyward, author of "Porgy", in his book Jasbo Brown and Selected Poems (1924), states jazz may have taken its name from Jazbo Brown.
Kingsley claimed the phrase "jaz her up" was used by plantation slaves and that in common vaudeville usage "jaz her up" or "put in jaz" meant to accelerate or add low comedy, while "jazbo" meant "hokum".[11]
Bandleader Art Hickman said "jazz" was named for the effervescent springs at Boyes Springs. He made the claim in the San Francisco Examiner of October 12, 1919 and San Francisco Chronicle of November 9, 1919.
Word game value
Outside of its etymological history, the word jazz is also notable for reportedly being the hardest word to guess in a game of hangman.[12] This is due to the short length of the word, the fact that it only has one vowel, and the fact that the letters J and Z that make up the remaining three-quarters are two of the least used letters in the Latin alphabet.[13]
Notes
- ^ The earliest tracing in the Oxford English Dictionary finds that "jasm" comes from Josiah Gilbert Holland’s 1860 novel, Miss Gilbert's Career: “‘She's just like her mother... Oh! she’s just as full of jasm!’.. ‘Now tell me what jasm is.’.. ‘If you'll take thunder and lightening [sic], and a steamboat and a buzz-saw, and mix 'em up, and put 'em into a woman, that's jasm.’”
- ^ "The Musical That Ushered in the Jazz Age Gets Its Own Musical". NPR.org.
- ISBN 9788479085179.
- ISBN 978-84-7908-517-9. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55553-844-6. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-514838-X.
- ^ George, Lynell (24 August 2003). "Origins of 'jazz' thrown a curve ball". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
- Benjamin Zimmer (2009-06-08). ""Jazz": A Tale of Three Cities". Word Routes. The Visual Thesaurus. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- JSTOR 779456.
- ^ "The Word "Jazz": Excerpted from Jazz Anecdotes by Bill Crow, Oxford University Press, 1990". 40north.org. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
- ISBN 0-231-10449-9.
- ^ "The Hardest Word to Guess in Hangman". Mental Floss. 2010-09-02. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ Specktor, Brandon (2019-04-25). "Here Is the Hardest Word to Guess in Hangman, According to Science". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
Sources
- Gerald Cohen, "Jazz Revisited: On the Origin of the Term – Draft #3," Comments on Etymology, Vol. 35, Nos. 1–2 (Oct.–Nov. 2005).
- J.E. Lighter, ed., Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Vol. 2, H–O (1997), New York: Random House.