[Ads-l] Wikipedia Claim About "Jazz"

Stephen Goranson goranson at DUKE.EDU
Mon Mar 25 12:20:38 UTC 2019


Others here know more about jazz than I, but I suspect an error, perhaps a typo. The 1903 claim apparently was added in a 12 Feb. 2019 edit by Vmavanti, who is apparently a senior editor, and claimed to have added "sourced material." (A wiki vet maybe could contact him or her.) But this is not clearly sourced. Was it putatively Dick Horton but mentioned in an unnoticed publication (such as a letter to Storyville?) or Horton orally as re-reported by Richard M. Sudhalter (Lost Chords, a 2001 book)? It's hard to imagine that any such report went unnoticed till last month. Also, besides the early 1903 date, at least in the snippet quoted, it seems a later development, as if jazz is already understood, and this is a special extreme form of it. But others know more.


SG

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2019 6:36:43 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: [ADS-L] Wikipedia Claim About "Jazz"

I notice the Wikipedia article on "Jazz (Word)" makes the following assertion: "Holbrook found a reference in sports section the March 3, 1906 San Francisco Bulletin<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_San-5FFrancisco-5FBulletin&d=DwIFAw&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=8rba8kicL-iZQqYO4Ev_IbDgqOZeqZftDVllzueDqZw&s=TSnGO2DbBvIkw-iOjEQ9S0nQ5HKYh3qErk7TRw1Ua_s&e=> in which a baseball player is 'very much in the jazz', i.e. enthusiastic."  Is this just a complete error or fabrication?


Fred Shapiro

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=DwIFAw&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=8rba8kicL-iZQqYO4Ev_IbDgqOZeqZftDVllzueDqZw&s=tynPweL6i3UuPVTEyB6oqixbrr3SwVmc_caYkaoSdZ0&e=

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list