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<font size=3>At 07:25 PM 1/23/2004, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Here's a clearer item, at
Newspaperarchive, from St. Louis, carried in the<br>
_Sheboygan Press_ (Sheboygan WI) on 25 March 1913 (p. 4, col. 2):<br>
"'Gazipe,' Latest Term for a Wood Pile Denizen". Here
"gazipe" is equated<br>
to (besides the woodpile denizen) "joker" or
"stinger", i.e., a problematic<br>
point in a contract. It is said to be of theatrical
origin.</blockquote><br>
In contemporary theater terminology (especially musical theater) a
'stinger' is a single accented note at the end of a musical number
that serves as a cue for the actor(s) to take a final pose, throw out
their arms, look in some direction etc and freeze. I've never heard
the word 'joker' used in that sense, and I don't know if it ever meant
that, nor whether 'stinger' referred to a problem in a contract.
<br>
I have no reference for the 'accented note' sense (it's not in the online
OED) but since I've performed in a number of amateur and
semi-professional musicals in various parts of the country I can attest
to its meaning.<br><br>
Geoff </font></body>
<br>
<div>Geoffrey S. Nathan</div>
<div>Department of English/Computing and Information Technology</div>
<div>Wayne State University</div>
<div>Detroit, MI, 48202</div>
<div><geoffnathan@wayne.edu></div>
Phones: C&IT (313) 577-1259/English (313) 577-8621
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