[Ads-l] 1908 pazaza

Cohen, Gerald Leonard gcohen at MST.EDU
Thu Mar 17 21:59:29 UTC 2016


Barry Popik (writer of the extraordinary website barrypopik.com) recently shared the following
information with Ben Zimmer and me, and I now share it with ads-l; the word fits into the pattern of early 20th century humorous words in /z/, e.g., lallapazzazza, Bazzazzaville, "comme il spazaza"
(= humorous alteration of French "comme il faut," i.e., properly), and (noticed by Ben Zimmer) 1910 "razapazaz". 

[From Barry Popik]: 
PAZAZA--While updating "City That Never Sleeps," I noticed "Pazaza" in the San Francisco Call in 1908. Seems to be an influence on "pizzazz" and probably "jazz" Do we have this?

Gerald Cohen 
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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