Ragged but Right, pt 4 (jam)

[Jonathan Lighter]

> And I don't mean to be breaking nasty on you or nothing, but
> everything ain't attested.

Heh heh. I take that to mean you think my suggestion may be corect.

If "jammin'" were orig. associated with ragtime, a national craze
beginning in the 1890s, a New England origin might be more probable
than if, e.g., it were associated with the somewhat later New Orleans
jazz (i.e., elaborated ragtime).

Of course, if if was a skiff, I'd soon go a-sailing.

JL

On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 8:57 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Ragged but Right, pt 4 (jam)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 5:06 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Any chance "to jam" comes from obs. "jam," a 'party or social
>> gathering,' as in Longfellow? Â See HDAS. The next step would be a
>> musicians' party. The next step would be the verb.
>>
>> Problem: the "party" sense is attested mainly from New England.
>
> Well, there's the evergreen Bob Marley hit from 1977, Jammin'/Jamming,
> which is about partying.
>
> And I don't mean to be breaking nasty on you or nothing, but
> everything ain't attested.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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