[Ads-l] Antedating of "Jazz" (Verb)

[Shapiro, Fred]

jazz, v. (OED 1914 May)

1914 _San Francisco Call and Post_ 3 Feb. 7/1 (California Digital Newspaper Collection)  This Australian layout has supplied the title holder with a new line to work on, and, of course, nobody can blame him for going the whole route if he sees a chance to jazz the game up a bit.

NOTE: This citation establishes "to enliven" as the oldest known verb sense of the word "jazz," rather than "to make a mess of."

Fred Shapiro

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