[Dixielandjazz] The word Jazz

[Anton Crouch]

Hello all

This is a resend - it seems that various servers didn't like some of the 
words in my original.
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As I reported last December, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has
published its draft revision for "Jazz". Not unexpectedly, the etymology
is long and includes the following.

"A derivation < French jaser to chatter, gossip (16th cent. in Middle
French; also earlier in an apparently isolated attestation as gaser with
reference to birdsong; of uncertain origin) is also unlikely on semantic
grounds. The French word (or a homonym) is apparently also occas.
attested with reference to sexual activity, although in the following
example the illustrative French quotation is taken from a 17th-cent. text:
   1896 J. S. FARMER Vocab. Amatoria 162 Jaser (or Jazer). To copulate;
‘to chuck a tread’. Tu as les genoux chauds, tu veux jaser.{em}La
Comédie des proverbes."

and:

"A suggested etymology < the female forename Jezebel (see JEZEBEL n.),
allegedly used in 19th-cent. New Orleans to denote a prostitute, cannot
be substantiated, nor can a derivation < JASMINE n., suggested on the
grounds that it may have been a perfume worn by prostitutes. Both
suggestions also pose semantic problems."

My view is that "jazz", as a derivation from the s#minal "j*sm", via
"jasm", is still the best bet.

All the best,
Anton