[Ads-l] Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"
Peter Reitan
pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM
Wed Sep 14 19:13:55 UTC 2022
Perhaps influenced by razzle dazzle and razmataz, which were earlier.
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 12:10:47 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"
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Poster: "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
Subject: Re: Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an intriguing point by John. The semantic and phonetic similaritie=
s between "jazz" and "pizzazz" are striking. Both were used in phrases suc=
h as "the old jazz," "the old pizzazz." "Jazz" itself seems to have arisen=
as a synonym for "pep" or "ginger" or "vim," etc.
Fred Shapiro
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Baker,=
John <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2022 9:41 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"
I am struck by the similarities between =1B$B!H=1B(Bpizzazz=1B$B!I=1B(B and=
the early California uses of =1B$B!H=1B(Bjazz,=1B$B!I=1B(B and of course t=
here is also a similarity of sound/spelling. Is there any more to the appa=
rent connection?
John Baker
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of ADSGar=
son O'Toole
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2022 8:16 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"
External Email - Think Before You Click
Great work Fred and Ben.
Back in June 2022 there was a thread on this mailing list about the
notion that slang terms often appear in the names of racehorses.
There was a horse named Fizazz who ran at the Saratoga racetrack in
1934 and 1935. There are many matches for this horse name in
newspapers.com. There are matches in 1940, too.
Date: August 17, 1934
Newspaper: The Boston Globe
Newspaper Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Article: Tomorrow's Entries
News Service: Associated Press
Quote Page 21, Column 6
Database: Newspapers.com
[Begin excerpt]
SARATOGA
...
SIXTH RACE 5 1/2 furlongs (10); Sun Idol, 115; Dancing Cloud, 115;
Star Shadow, 115; Epaulet, 115; Nautch, 115; Over-stimulate, 115;
Broken Up, 115; Scatter Brain, 115; Fizzaz, 112; Cubist, 115.
[End excerpt]
Garson
On Mon, Sep 12, 2022 at 3:52 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com<mailto:bgzim=
mer at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Following Fred's lead, I looked for other "pizzazz" variants in the Yale
> Daily News archive and found "pizzaz" back to 1935.
>
> ---
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19351004-01.2.21<htt=
ps://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19351004-01.2.21>
> Yale Daily News, Oct. 4, 1935, p. 4, col. 1
> Many an All-American has paled into insignificance on the scales and many=
a
> Colossus has lacked what _faute de mieux_ is know[n] by the name of
> "pizzaz." Taken as a unit the Yale line is heavy but comparatively green.
> The record they compile in the suicide schedule that lies ahead will depe=
nd
> on just how fast they are able to get across the line, just how much they
> can carry the fight to their opponents, in short just how much pizzaz the=
y
> can muster and keep mustered.
> ---
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19360122-01.2.23<htt=
ps://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19360122-01.2.23>
> Yale Daily News, Jan. 22, 1936, p. 4, col. 1
> In practice yesterday this line was showing some of the old "pizzaz" that
> should carry them into the scoring columns.
> ---
>
> "Pazaz" also appeared in the YDN sports pages in early 1937.
>
> ---
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19370118-01.2.27<htt=
ps://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19370118-01.2.27>
> Yale Daily News, Jan. 18, 1937, p. 4, col. 3
> This year Holc York figured that Clint would have a lot more zip, a littl=
e
> more pazaz (I think that's the Miltonic word), if he were prevented from
> expending all his energy in practice sessions.
> ---
>
> --bgz
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 12, 2022 at 3:34 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com<mailto:bgz=
immer at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> > An item in the March 1937 issue of Harper's Bazaar titled "This Thing
> > Called Pizazz" (pp. 116-7) appears to have inspired ad copy in the New =
York
> > Times and elsewhere in late February. (The 2/26/37 NYT ad from The Tail=
ored
> > Woman and a 2/28/37 ad in the New York Herald Tribune from Bonwit Telle=
r
> > both credit HB for "pizazz.") It's fair to assume the March issue was
> > circulating by the end of February, as is typical in fashion magazine
> > publishing. Vogue's famous "September issue," for instance, hits
> > newsstands in mid-August.
> >
> > I see the OED2 "pizzazz" entry used the HB item for its first cite:
> >
> > ---
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww=
.oed.com%2Foed2%2F00180470&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C6=
1f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%=
7C637985869291737725%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2=
luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3DLcU5jMzRjZ=
NR4gZs4CUVgBI1mjmrZ5mHMri0J27UbU0%3D&reserved=3D0<https://nam12.safelin=
ks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.oed.com%2Foed2%2F0018047=
0&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C61f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94=
c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637985869291737725%7CUn=
known%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJ=
XVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3DLcU5jMzRjZNR4gZs4CUVgBI1mjmrZ5mHMri=
0J27UbU0%3D&reserved=3D0>
> > 1937 Harper's Bazaar Mar. 116/2 Pizazz, to quote the editor of the Harv=
ard
> > Lampoon, is an indefinable dynamic quality, the je ne sais quoi of
> > function; as for instance, adding Scotch puts pizazz into a drink. Cert=
ain
> > clothes have it, too.=1B$B!E=1B(B There's pizazz in this rust evening c=
oat.
> > ---
> >
> > In the OED3 entry, this cite has been removed and replaced with the
> > 2/26/37 NYT ad, which Fred first shared here in 2010:
> >
> >
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Flis=
tserv.linguistlist.org%2Fpipermail%2Fads-l%2F2010-September%2F102735.html&a=
mp;data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C61f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94c49=
51c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637985869291737725%7CUnkno=
wn%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVC=
I6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3DWi1sBHN%2BYfrZd1sIlHoREz0eZUqWm9oyKa8V=
yyGioaY%3D&reserved=3D0<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/=
?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Flistserv.linguistlist.org%2Fpipermail%2Fads-l%2F2010-S=
eptember%2F102735.html&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C61f0f=
fefab9b4f80a6d208da94c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C63=
7985869291737725%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMz=
IiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3DWi1sBHN%2BYfrZ=
d1sIlHoREz0eZUqWm9oyKa8VyyGioaY%3D&reserved=3D0>
> >
> > Given that the NYT ad uses the same heading as the Mar. '37 HB item ("T=
his
> > Thing Called Pizazz"), it would make sense to credit HB as the earlier
> > cite, on the assumption that the actual publication date preceded the c=
over
> > date. But this is somewhat of a moot point now that Fred has located th=
e
> > 2/23/37 YDN cite that doesn't rely on Harper's Bazaar at all, suggestin=
g it
> > was already Ivy League slang. A search of the Harvard Lampoon archive m=
ay
> > still trump the Yalies, however.
> >
> > As we've discussed in the past, "pizzazz" had a number of earlier
> > variants. One of these is "pazzazza" (or "pazazza"), which appears in t=
he
> > databases with various slang meanings going back to c1902. (There was a
> > musical recording called "The Pazzazza Promenade" in 1910.) This exampl=
e
> > from 1932 indicates that "pazzazza" could be used with the same "peppy"
> > meaning later associated with "pizzazz."
> >
> > ---
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww=
.newspapers.com%2Fclip%2F109405124%2Fpazzazza%2F&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.=
shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C61f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b41=
14e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637985869291737725%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoi=
MC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&=
amp;sdata=3DWGLLyn6EGDqSX5qF8Gg7ZqSGrDClKyo37ddv8GD2K7w%3D&reserved=3D0=
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.ne=
wspapers.com%2Fclip%2F109405124%2Fpazzazza&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapir=
o%40YALE.EDU%7C61f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e8=
7abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637985869291893945%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLj=
AwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sd=
ata=3D%2BtncaVx3AOETGPDVJQCQNmX99TCrB4weaKy%2BWMuCQwk%3D&reserved=3D0>
> > Evening News (Harrisburg, Pa.), Oct. 26, 1932, p. 10, col. 2
> > "The Once Over" by H.I. Phillips [NY Sun column syndicated by Associate=
d
> > Newspapers]
> > The presidential campaign is boring people. It lacks hot-cha. ... The
> > campaign has had no pace, no pep, no pazzazza.
> > ---
> >
> > Perhaps worth a bracketed cite in the OED entry.
> >
> > --bgz
> >
> > On Sun, Sep 11, 2022 at 9:36 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu<ma=
ilto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu>>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> The origins of the word "pizzazz" are a bit mysterious. The OED's firs=
t
> >> citation is from the New York Times, Feb. 26, 1937, and the Times
> >> attributed the term to the Harvard Lampoon and Harper's Bazaar. But no=
one
> >> has found prior citations in the Lampoon or HB.
> >>
> >> A slightly earlier citation points to a different Ivy League school:
> >>
> >> 1937 _Yale Daily News_ 23 Feb. 4/3 (Yale Daily News Historical Archive=
)
> >> That the Blues were potentially better skaters cannot be doubted, but
> >> somehow they lacked the old pizzazz down on the Arena ice last night.
> >>
> >
>
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________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Baker,=
John <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2022 9:41 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"
I am struck by the similarities between =1B$B!H=1B(Bpizzazz=1B$B!I=1B(B and=
the early California uses of =1B$B!H=1B(Bjazz,=1B$B!I=1B(B and of course t=
here is also a similarity of sound/spelling. Is there any more to the appa=
rent connection?
John Baker
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of ADSGar=
son O'Toole
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2022 8:16 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"
External Email - Think Before You Click
Great work Fred and Ben.
Back in June 2022 there was a thread on this mailing list about the
notion that slang terms often appear in the names of racehorses.
There was a horse named Fizazz who ran at the Saratoga racetrack in
1934 and 1935. There are many matches for this horse name in
newspapers.com. There are matches in 1940, too.
Date: August 17, 1934
Newspaper: The Boston Globe
Newspaper Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Article: Tomorrow's Entries
News Service: Associated Press
Quote Page 21, Column 6
Database: Newspapers.com
[Begin excerpt]
SARATOGA
...
SIXTH RACE 5 1/2 furlongs (10); Sun Idol, 115; Dancing Cloud, 115;
Star Shadow, 115; Epaulet, 115; Nautch, 115; Over-stimulate, 115;
Broken Up, 115; Scatter Brain, 115; Fizzaz, 112; Cubist, 115.
[End excerpt]
Garson
On Mon, Sep 12, 2022 at 3:52 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com<mailto:bgzim=
mer at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Following Fred's lead, I looked for other "pizzazz" variants in the Yale
> Daily News archive and found "pizzaz" back to 1935.
>
> ---
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19351004-01.2.21<htt=
ps://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19351004-01.2.21>
> Yale Daily News, Oct. 4, 1935, p. 4, col. 1
> Many an All-American has paled into insignificance on the scales and many=
a
> Colossus has lacked what _faute de mieux_ is know[n] by the name of
> "pizzaz." Taken as a unit the Yale line is heavy but comparatively green.
> The record they compile in the suicide schedule that lies ahead will depe=
nd
> on just how fast they are able to get across the line, just how much they
> can carry the fight to their opponents, in short just how much pizzaz the=
y
> can muster and keep mustered.
> ---
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19360122-01.2.23<htt=
ps://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19360122-01.2.23>
> Yale Daily News, Jan. 22, 1936, p. 4, col. 1
> In practice yesterday this line was showing some of the old "pizzaz" that
> should carry them into the scoring columns.
> ---
>
> "Pazaz" also appeared in the YDN sports pages in early 1937.
>
> ---
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19370118-01.2.27<htt=
ps://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19370118-01.2.27>
> Yale Daily News, Jan. 18, 1937, p. 4, col. 3
> This year Holc York figured that Clint would have a lot more zip, a littl=
e
> more pazaz (I think that's the Miltonic word), if he were prevented from
> expending all his energy in practice sessions.
> ---
>
> --bgz
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 12, 2022 at 3:34 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com<mailto:bgz=
immer at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> > An item in the March 1937 issue of Harper's Bazaar titled "This Thing
> > Called Pizazz" (pp. 116-7) appears to have inspired ad copy in the New =
York
> > Times and elsewhere in late February. (The 2/26/37 NYT ad from The Tail=
ored
> > Woman and a 2/28/37 ad in the New York Herald Tribune from Bonwit Telle=
r
> > both credit HB for "pizazz.") It's fair to assume the March issue was
> > circulating by the end of February, as is typical in fashion magazine
> > publishing. Vogue's famous "September issue," for instance, hits
> > newsstands in mid-August.
> >
> > I see the OED2 "pizzazz" entry used the HB item for its first cite:
> >
> > ---
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww=
.oed.com%2Foed2%2F00180470&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C6=
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ks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.oed.com%2Foed2%2F0018047=
0&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C61f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94=
c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637985869291737725%7CUn=
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0J27UbU0%3D&reserved=3D0>
> > 1937 Harper's Bazaar Mar. 116/2 Pizazz, to quote the editor of the Harv=
ard
> > Lampoon, is an indefinable dynamic quality, the je ne sais quoi of
> > function; as for instance, adding Scotch puts pizazz into a drink. Cert=
ain
> > clothes have it, too.=1B$B!E=1B(B There's pizazz in this rust evening c=
oat.
> > ---
> >
> > In the OED3 entry, this cite has been removed and replaced with the
> > 2/26/37 NYT ad, which Fred first shared here in 2010:
> >
> >
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Flis=
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> >
> > Given that the NYT ad uses the same heading as the Mar. '37 HB item ("T=
his
> > Thing Called Pizazz"), it would make sense to credit HB as the earlier
> > cite, on the assumption that the actual publication date preceded the c=
over
> > date. But this is somewhat of a moot point now that Fred has located th=
e
> > 2/23/37 YDN cite that doesn't rely on Harper's Bazaar at all, suggestin=
g it
> > was already Ivy League slang. A search of the Harvard Lampoon archive m=
ay
> > still trump the Yalies, however.
> >
> > As we've discussed in the past, "pizzazz" had a number of earlier
> > variants. One of these is "pazzazza" (or "pazazza"), which appears in t=
he
> > databases with various slang meanings going back to c1902. (There was a
> > musical recording called "The Pazzazza Promenade" in 1910.) This exampl=
e
> > from 1932 indicates that "pazzazza" could be used with the same "peppy"
> > meaning later associated with "pizzazz."
> >
> > ---
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww=
.newspapers.com%2Fclip%2F109405124%2Fpazzazza%2F&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.=
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<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.ne=
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o%40YALE.EDU%7C61f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e8=
7abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637985869291893945%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLj=
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ata=3D%2BtncaVx3AOETGPDVJQCQNmX99TCrB4weaKy%2BWMuCQwk%3D&reserved=3D0>
> > Evening News (Harrisburg, Pa.), Oct. 26, 1932, p. 10, col. 2
> > "The Once Over" by H.I. Phillips [NY Sun column syndicated by Associate=
d
> > Newspapers]
> > The presidential campaign is boring people. It lacks hot-cha. ... The
> > campaign has had no pace, no pep, no pazzazza.
> > ---
> >
> > Perhaps worth a bracketed cite in the OED entry.
> >
> > --bgz
> >
> > On Sun, Sep 11, 2022 at 9:36 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu<ma=
ilto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu>>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> The origins of the word "pizzazz" are a bit mysterious. The OED's firs=
t
> >> citation is from the New York Times, Feb. 26, 1937, and the Times
> >> attributed the term to the Harvard Lampoon and Harper's Bazaar. But no=
one
> >> has found prior citations in the Lampoon or HB.
> >>
> >> A slightly earlier citation points to a different Ivy League school:
> >>
> >> 1937 _Yale Daily News_ 23 Feb. 4/3 (Yale Daily News Historical Archive=
)
> >> That the Blues were potentially better skaters cannot be doubted, but
> >> somehow they lacked the old pizzazz down on the Arena ice last night.
> >>
> >
>
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