Dear Birdingaussers,
For your infomation.
Glen J. Ingram
Brisbane, Australia.
"The hour is always darkest before you stand on the cat".
--------------------
> From: Peter Lor -ext- <>
> To: Glen Ingram <>
> Subject: Re: Oxford Dictionary Supplement
> Date: Friday, 13 June 1997 0:49
>
> Dear Glen
>
> I hope you are continuing to recover from your op, of which I picked
> up several echoes as I was working my way through the accumulated
> messages on SABIRDNET. Apologies for the delay. Have been doing a lot
> of travelling - not for birding, unfortunately.
>
> I found the following in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.
> 1989), vol VIII, p. 246:
>
> "jizz ... [Etym. unknown.] The characteristic impression given by an
> animal or plant..."
>
> So there is no authoritative etymological explanation. Then there is
> a note on the word "guise" which is "coincident in sense but the
> phonetic relationship remains unexplained and the two words may
> therefore be unrelated". Which, translated into English means, I
> suppose, that "guise" might be related to "jizz" but this is unlikely
> because the migration from a hard "g" to a soft "j" is not explicable
> in terms of phonetic mechanisms - somewhat reminiscnet of my
> earlier comment on the hypothetical relationship between "jizz" and
> "Gestalt".
>
> Then come the quotes. The earliest dates from 1922 and is from p. 141
> of "Bird haunts and nature memories" by T A Coward:
>
> "A West Coast Irishman was familiar with the wild creatures which
> dwelt on or visited his rocks and shores; at a glance he could name
> them, usually correctly, but if asked how he knew them would reply
> 'By their "jizz"'. What is jizz? ... we have not coined it, but how
> wide its use is in Ireland we cannot say... Jizz may be applied to
> or possessed by" any animate and some inanimate objects, yet we
> cannot clearly define it. A single character may supply it, or it may
> be the combination of many." The word is used again on p. 143 of the
> same book. There are three later quotes, one of which refers
> back to Coward.
>
> Remember that the quotation does not imply that Coward necessarily
> invented the term "jizz". His use of it is merely the first case
> recorded by the OED's army of contributors.
>
> But perhaps it does give us some leads: 1922 (shortly after WW1);
> West coast of Ireland (could the word be derived from an
> Irish/Gaelic/Erse(??) word?)
>
> I did not post this on SABIRDNET but if you think the others
> might be interested, you might send this query out into the birding
> community again. Perhaps there is someone out there who speaks
> whatever language it is the native West coast Irish speak...
>
> Regards
>
> Peter
>
> ----------------------------------
> > From: (Glen Ingram)
> > To: <>
> > Subject: Oxford Dictionary Supplement
> > Date sent: Tue, 27 May 1997 02:10:08 +1000
>
> > Dear Peter,
> > It looks like you are a librarian. Do you access to the full set of
> > Oxfords? I emailed Normand back about the Irish connection, he replied:
> >
> > Dear Glen
> >
> > Yes, I found the origin and definition of JIZZ in the supplement of the
> > multi-volume set of the OED. In a public library (I do not own the
set).
> >
> > I do not remember the name of that Irish naturalist (I think it is
> > mentioned by the OED supplement).
> >
> > I had to study the case in order to translate in French Harrison's
> > Seabirds, an Identification Guide. The foreword, by R. T. Peterson, was
> > using the word jizz (with what is in my opinion an incorrect
explanation of
> > its origin and definition).
> >
> > Sincerely
> >
> > Normand David
> >
> > Normand David
> > Association quibicoise des groupes d'ornithologues
> > 4545 Pierre-de-Coubertin
> > C. P. 1000, Succ. M.,
> > Montrial, Qc
> > H1V 3R2
|
