Jass; old Jass; Jass nine

Stephen Goranson goranson at DUKE.EDU
Tue Sep 14 16:23:43 UTC 2010


I am not up to date on all things Jazz, but, since the subject has come up, a few hit or miss notes.
Previously George noted Jass in Switzerland, which led to a discussion of a card game of that name.
But has it also been discussed that Jass in Switzerland is the name of a Jester? The OED's first two
provisional senses for Jazz could conceivably relate to an energetic jester. A photo of Jass from circa 1870,
printed in folklore has him holding, dare I call it, a bat?(No ball or pitch.) mentioned. Okay, this is all quit, quite  iffy.
Yet,  has anyone yet mentioned the team,
apparently a baseball team at Williams College referred to as the Jass?
At a minimum, it might be interesting to learn why the team at Williams was called th Jass

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