Another Possible Antedating of "Pizzazz"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Fred Shapiro wrote:
> Also of interest as a possible antedating of "pizzazz" (OED 1937) is the fa=
> ct that the Boston Herald, July 21, 1936, page 14 (Genealogy Bank) has a li=
> sting of yacht regatta results from the Camden, Maine Yacht Club, in which =
> the seventh-place finisher is listed as "Pezzazz II, William Taylor."  Alth=
> ough the spelling is slightly different, semantically this seems plausible =
> as being the same word as the later usage.

"Pezzazz" of W. Taylor participated in sailing races for several
years. There is a cite in 1933 that specified the boat, owner, and
finishing time in a list of racing results.

Date: Tuesday, August 29, 1933
Paper: Boston Herald (Boston, MA)
Article Title: Miss Henry Lost in Camden Race
Page: 15
Database: GenealogyBank

A book in GB contained a list of alternate spellings for "pizazz" that
included pezzazz.

Title: Verbivore's Feast: A Banquet of Word and Phrase Origins
Author: Chrysti (the Wordsmith.)
Publisher: Farcountry Press
Year: 2004

[Begin excerpt]
The spelling of this word changes whimsically from writer to writer,
too; its recorded variants include bizzazz, bezaz, pezzazz, pizzazz,
and pizazz.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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