[Ads-l] Antedating of "Jive" (Noun)

[Shapiro, Fred]

Among Stephen Goranson's many very important antedatings, one of the most outstanding ones is his pushing back of the word "jive," both as a verb and as a noun, several years before the OED's earliest citations.  He found that the Black newspaper "Inter-State Tattler" used "jive" multiple times in 1924-25.  His earliest cites from the "Tattler" were 10 Aug. 1924 as a verb and 13 Mar. 1925 as a noun (the OED has the verb in 1928 and the noun in 1926).

I am not able to improve upon Stephen's 1924 verb discovery.  Here is what appears to be a 1924 noun usage of "jive":

jive, n. (OED 1926)  1924 Inter-State Tattler 28 Sept. 13/1 (America's Historical Newspapers)  Dr. Ellis Fisher, millionaire is full of hot air, Dr. you were informed about the "jive of jokes."

Fred Shapiro



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