[Ads-l] Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"

Wed Sep 14 20:50:52 UTC 2022

1925 _Hanford [Calif.] Daily Sentinel (March 30) 2: Spike ought to get a
little more bezazz into his baseball stuff.

1927 _Charlotte Obsever_ (Aug. 23) 24: Atta bazazz, Bill, 'sall ri'. Better
jine up.

1928 _Pittsburgh Post-Gazette_ (July 24) 15: Mr. [Gene] Tunney has changed.
Thus the old ba-zazz wasn't up to its usual form.

JL

On Wed, Sep 14, 2022 at 4:07 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> ADS-L post by Gerald Cohen March 17, 2016.
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2016-March/141270.html
>
> “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”
>
> When I first saw that I had already collected a number of possible -zz-
> word connections, apparently (in my mind) influenced originally from Razzle
> Dazzle (1885) and extending (I though) through pazaza and jazz.  Razzle
> Dazzle was said to have originally been stage slang for wowing an
> audience.  “Razzle” itself can be found in earlier English dialect
> glossaries, meaning to roast something over a fire.
>
> “Razzle Dazzle” became widespread with a variety of possible meanings, but
> became most popular in a song “razzle dazzle,” sung by a trio in a popular
> stage play – with “razzle dazzle” referring to how they feel after drinking
> too much.
>
> Gerald and Barry and I shared private e-mail correspondence about the
> connections at the time, but I never posted anything about it, and I don’t
> know whether anyone else pursued it further after that.  If I recall,
> Gerald Cohen said in one of those e-mails that he would be “hesitant to
> push the ‘jazz’ connection too strongly” at the time.
>
>
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows
>
> From: Shapiro, Fred<mailto:fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 12:11 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Slight Antedating of "PIzzazz"
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> 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=<
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19351004-01.2.21%3chtt=
> >
> 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=<
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19360122-01.2.23%3chtt=
> >
> 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=<
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19370118-01.2.27%3chtt=
> >
> 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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> https://nam12.safelin=
>
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>
> 0&data=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C61f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94=
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>
> c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637985869291737725%7CUn=
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> > > 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=
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> 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=
> <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=
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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.=
> shapiro%40YALE.EDU
> %7C61f0ffefab9b4f80a6d208da94c4951c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b41=
>
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>
> 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=
> <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=
>
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> > > 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.
> > >>
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society -
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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=<
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19351004-01.2.21%3chtt=
> >
> 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=<
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19360122-01.2.23%3chtt=
> >
> 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=<
> https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=3Dd&d=3DYDN19370118-01.2.27%3chtt=
> >
> 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%=
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> 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=
> <http://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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> 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=
>
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>
> 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=
> <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=
> <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.
> > >>
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society -
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