jammer(s)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 6:03 PM, Benjamin Zimmer
<bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
>
> ---
> http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/swimming/news?slug=ap-swm-swimming&prov=ap&type=lgns
> "For the preliminaries Thursday night, Crocker inexplicably came out wearing
> a jammer -- a suit that goes only from the waist to just above the knees --
> and put up the 13th-fastest time, coming perilously close to missing out on
> the semifinals."
> ---
>
> "A jammer"? Not "jammers" (in the dual pattern of "pants", "trunks",
> "shorts", etc.)?

Turns out "Jammer" is a trade name for a swimsuit sold by Speedo:

http://www.speedousa.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3106185
(FS-Pro Jammer - $180)

Nothing like the loose-fitting "jammers" of old.

> I presume "jammers" is a shortening of "pajamas" -- as is "jams", or "Jams"
> in its proprietary version. (Jams World was founded by Dave Rochlen in 1964,
> online sources say. OED2 has "jams" from 1966 in Australia, with the Jams
> trademark showing up in 1971.)

Back to 1965 on ProQuest:

---
1965 _Los Angeles Times_ 26 Mar. IV4/4 Designed by Surf Line, colorful
"Jams" for the surfing man are from Bullock's Wilshire.
---
1965 _Los Angeles Times_ 1 June 4 (advt.) Men with nerve and verve
will sport the "jams," colorful outfits for sunning, swimming,
sipping, sitting around and sleeping.
---
1965 _New York Times_ 29 June 4 (advt.) Jams move east from Hawaii --
bright, bold surfer trunks in island prints gone wild.
---
1965 _Hartford Courant_ 5 July 4  (advt.) Jams - the first trunks
designed for surfers. The hip-riding trunks, that look like cropped
off pajama pants, were created in Honolulu by a young surfing
enthusiast-engineer.
---

> "Jammers" goes back to 1966 on Newspaperarchive:

A bit earlier in '66 from the LA Times:

---
1966 _Los Angeles Times_ 31 Mar. III2 (advt.) Hawaiian surf jammers.
Bright, bold colorful -- that's the surfing look for summer '66!
---
1966 _Los Angeles Times_ 25 Apr. 13  (advt.) Here come the jammers!
... They just surfed in from Hawaii...  will be seen beachside and
poolside on the mainland this Summer! Versatile jammers are the smart
new idea for swimming, surfing, or just lounging.
---

--Ben Zimmer

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