"To summarize, six words have been discussed as the original form from which the Jew's of Jew's Harp was corrupted: jaw's, jeu, jeugd, gewgaw, giga, gawe. The frequency and dogmatism with which the various etymons have been asserted vary from very great to very little."

copied from a jew's harp site: http://www.cyberhighway.net/~mposs1/history.html Wolfgang