‘The etymology of “jizz”, revisited’

By Birding-Aus, on July 3rd, 2016

Greetings. Two decades ago I wrote an article which discussed the meaning
and origin of the term ‘jizz’: McDonald, D 1996, ‘The etymology of
“jizz”‘, *Canberra
Bird Notes*, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 2-11,
canberrabirds.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CBN/cbnvol21no1.pdf
. It concluded that the most commonly cited origins of the terms – WW2
aircraft identification and TA Coward’s 1922 book *Bird haunts and nature
memories* – are not well supported by the evidence. The matter has been
discussed on birding-aus a few times over the intervening years.

Twenty years later I have revisited the matter. Access to online literature
databases has enabled me to update the discussion: McDonald, D 2016, ‘The
etymology of “jizz”, revisited’, *Canberra Bird Notes*, vol. 41, no. 2, pp.
113-7,
canberrabirds.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CBN_41_2_final-for-web.pdf
.

I now suggest that the origin of the word ‘jizz’, as we use it in birding
and botany today, is
the 19th century usage meaning energy, enthusiasm or exuberance. I document
how the meaning shifted from this to ‘the characteristic impression given
by an animal or plant’ (OED) owing to an error made by Coward in his 1922
book.

David

—
David McDonald
1004 Norton Road
Wamboin NSW 2620
Australia
T: (02) 6238 3706
M: 0416 231 890
F: (02) 9475 4274
E: david AT dnmcdonald.id.au

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peter

July 5, 2016 at 8:55 pm

While we’re on the subject, can anyone give me any examples of identifying Australian birds by jizz? The field guides tend to describe definite features of species, rather than “indefinable somethings”. What exactly does it mean?

I have Beruldsen’s “Which Bird of Prey is that?”, which explains how to distinguish distant raptors by wing profile, head/tail ratios, etc. Does that count as jizz? Is it Pizzey’s description of Little Egret “dashes after small fish”?

Peter Shute

Sent from my iPad

July 5, 2016 at 4:58 am

But did he ever confirm that the term GISS was used in those courses, Anthea? It’s entirely possible that he also was merely perpetuating an attractive myth, just more effectively, given his influence and credentials.

Did you follow up this James Fisher’s claims, David?

July 3, 2016 at 1:17 pm

I wonder if the word really does have one origin. Perhaps some people did independently start using GISS after having used it during WWII, so it would be good to find at least some documentation that the airforce (RAF?) really did use it. It’s odd that so far this hasn’t happened.

It might be that the word’s usage would have ended if it wasn’t reinforced by the later origin.

Birding-Aus

‘The etymology of “jizz”, revisited’

3 comments to ‘The etymology of “jizz”, revisited’

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