[Ads-l] Antedating of "Blue Note"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Thanks for the clarification, Jon.  What does "yellow" mean in this context ?

Fred Shapiro

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, July 5, 2025 9:39 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Blue Note"

Surely a sour note:

1893 _L. A. Express_ (June 6) 8 [GenealogyBank]:  There was not a single
reminder of the insidious "blue" note or the shriek of the "yellow"
clarinet.

JL

On Sat, Jul 5, 2025 at 9:26 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Possibly named merely for a note written on blue paper:
>
> [1893 _Salt Lake Herald_ (June 20) 5: Beaulah and Blue Note shot under the
> wire, head and head, making a dead heat between them.]
>
> Not to be a wet blanket, but I read the U.C. "blue notes" as 'sour notes,'
> not 'blues notes.'  Did Sousa ever employ "blue notes," esp. ep early?
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Jul 4, 2025 at 8:06 PM Shapiro, Fred <
> 00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>> blue note (OED 1895 [10 Dec.])
>>
>> 1895 Examiner (San Francisco) 3 Nov. 8/1 (Newspapers.com)
>>
>> Everything about the game almost was yellow except the few blue notes
>> blown out by the U. C. Band when the musicians dallied with one of Sousa's
>> marches.
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
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>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


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