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15 May 16 - 12:18 PM (#3790444) Subject: BS: jaw harp From: mkebenn When I was a kid we called these lip manglers "jew's harps". Was this another case of unintentional antisemitism? what is the origin? Mike |
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15 May 16 - 01:02 PM (#3790450) Subject: RE: BS: jaw harp From: meself Lost in the mists of time. No particular anti-Semitism indicated, but one or two hints if you are determined enough to find them. |
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15 May 16 - 01:19 PM (#3790451) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: mkebenn Thanks yourself, but I wonder which begot which? Mike |
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15 May 16 - 01:25 PM (#3790454) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: meself Okay - there are jaw/jew's harp sites on-line with articles that go into the research. In a nutshell: various theories about the origin of the term, none of which, as far as I know, put much weight behind the idea of an anti-Semitic origin. |
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15 May 16 - 01:29 PM (#3790455) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: mkebenn Thanks again, I'll sit on my ass and look. LOL Mike |
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15 May 16 - 07:32 PM (#3790500) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: GUEST,.gargoyle Welcome back Mr. MAC I never found it a "lip mangler" .... There are several MC discussions on the topic. Www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=3318&messages=24 Sincerely, Gargoyle The thread does not touch on it....but the best cure for your professed affliction is "Gum Myrhh." it is pretty hard to imagine ... but if anyone wants to go kissing....with a person of your afflicion.... DON'T |
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15 May 16 - 07:36 PM (#3790503) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: beeliner It's a corruption of "jeu", the French word for "toy". |
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15 May 16 - 07:59 PM (#3790506) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: Steve Shaw No it isn't. And there's nothing whatsoever wrong with calling it Jew's harp. As a harmonica player, I'm used to having harmonicas called harps or mouth harps. The word Jew as used in Jew's harp carries no negative or pejorative connotations whatsoever. Jew's harp is a venerable name. That's what I call it and always will. As a matter of fact, I possess rather a good one and I can play it. But I don't, because I'm never quite sure that the vibrations from it that penetrate my skull on their way to my brain are entirely good for me. |
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16 May 16 - 12:15 AM (#3790525) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: Airymouse When I call the round revolving thing in the kitchen a "Lazy Susan," I intend no slight to women named Susan. Similarly, when Mike Seeger used the term, "Jew's harp," he certainly wasn't being anti-Semitic. But I had a conversation with him about the term, and he told me that he had taken to calling the Jew's harp a "trump," because some organization had fussed at him over his name for the instrument, and he didn't like the term "Jaw's harp." At the time, it seemed like an artful dodge, but later I consulted the O.E.D., which said that the Jew's Harp (or Jews' harp) was also called a "Jew's trump." By the way, Mike was a very good Jew's harpist -- oh sorry -- Jew's trumpeter. |
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16 May 16 - 01:08 AM (#3790528) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: meself There's no question, though, that the "Susan" of "Lazy Susan" derives from the common feminine name. The "Jew" of "Jew's harp", however, does not seem to derive from the term indicating a member of the particular ethnic/religious population in question. The capitalization of the 'j' is probably a relatively later confusion. At least, that's what I gather from what I've read, which is all I know about the subject. |
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16 May 16 - 09:32 AM (#3790593) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: Mark Ross I seem to remember that it is sometimes referred to as the harp that King David played. Mark Ross |
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16 May 16 - 02:24 PM (#3790640) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: Ged Fox Then he must have been some musician if he sang the psalms while accompanying himself on the Jew's harp |
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16 May 16 - 02:52 PM (#3790645) Subject: RE: jaw harp From: meself Maybe that's why they're "psalms", instead of "soms" or "poms". Or "sals" .... |