Wikipedia on Jazz

[Baker, John]

        This is excellent.  It's from just the right time period and
shows that "jasm" was seen as a thoroughly respectable term.  Its status
as a New England word would help explain how it was inadvertently
transfigured into "jazz" in California.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Douglas G. Wilson
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 12:21 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Wikipedia on Jazz

>I wonder if Jon has any "jasm" cites beyond the ones that are included
>in HDAS.

Here is one from 1905 for starters. In this piece I think "jasm"
approximates "charisma", as it arguably does in other citations also.

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/sc_as_mt/70birthday/harpers06.html

-- Doug Wilson

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