"Jazz" on alt.usage.english

[Arnold Zwicky]

barry popik and gerald cohen deprecate the shoddy treatment of "jazz"
on a.u.e.  well, most of the discussion was crossposted to sci.lang,
where i've held my tongue because this is so far from my areas of
expertise.  but someone knowledgeable should set them straight.

someone on sci.lang did refer to a loony publication claiming that
"jazz" derived from "janissary" by reduction.  i couldn't keep from
responding to that, asking for the cite and suggesting the alternative
source "jackass" (with reduction, of course), noting the rhythmic
musicality of the animal, as depicted in grofe's Grand Canyon Suite.

oddly, no one has replied to this posting of mine.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu), unappreciated