Talk:snazzy

The Meriam-Webster online dictionary cites the first known use of snazzy as 1932. The BBC series "Balderdash and Piffle" included Snazzy as a word on the list of those whoose origin was unclear and for which additional information was sought. I do not believe any contributers to that BBC series found earlier references but I would be interested if others can shed light on that. George Snazelle was a distant relative of mine and family tradition indicates the word 'snazzy' was coined to refer to him as a sort of knickname. The New Zealand paper entry from 1901 I have referred to in the entry would seem to confirm this (see http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19010330.2.50&l=mi&e=---10--12--I). A later reference may be found in the Otago Witness, Dunedin NZ, of 15 April 1903, on p. 56 as follows : "Snazelle ("Snazzy"), of music, song, and story is planning a tour of India." http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW19030415.2.146.3&l=mi&e=---10--10buckridge+discovery+expedition-- More information about George Snazelle's career may be found at http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Bm43LzHsejYJ:gabrielleray.150m.com/ArchiveTextS/GHSnazelle.html+George+H+Snazelle&hl=en&gl=ca&strip=1. Laurence James Moore's thesis "Never on a Sunday: A Study of Sunday observance and Sunday public musical entertainment in theatres in Melbourne, 1890-1895" discusses G.H. Snazelle's early Covent Garden career and ground breaking use of the magic lantern in Australian theatre performances in the 1890s at pp. 105-113 (http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp259.17022011/02chapters.pdf). Contributed by John Maguire, Ottawa, Canada.


 * I wonder if zazzy has any connection to this (at first I thought that word was a variant of sassy/saucy), or may be a shortening of pizazzy instead. Or connected with jazzy directly. Actually, jazzy does have the meaning "flashy, showy", so zazzy could be an alternation thereof. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 01:00, 1 February 2015 (UTC)


 * What print evidence is there of the word "snazzy" being used as an adjective with the particular meaning before the 1930s? None that I've seen.  "Snazzy" was a nickname, not an adjective. There is NO evidence that the adjective "snazzy" comes from Snazelle's nickname, and far from being "probable", the link is actually quite implausible given the gap between Snazelle's death and the first printed appearance of "snazzy" as an adjective with the meaning it now has.

Removed etymology
Per Etymology scriptorium/2015/March:


 * The first documented use of the word was on 30 March 1901 on page 3 of the The Evening Post, Wellington, New Zealand. The Reference was to "'Snazzy,' otherwise G.H. Snazelle ." George H. Snazelle was a noted English vocalist, entertainer and actor who was born George Snazel in 1848, and who died in 1912. It is probable that the word was coined to refer to this stylish, well-traveled celebrity of the age.

This, that and the other (talk) 09:28, 2 February 2016 (UTC)