Great thread. I had a Jew's harp once, and couldn't do a damned thing with it. Maybe I'll try again (muahahaha).

By the way, I'm one of those people who think that 'Jew's harp' was originally an anti-Semitic slur. A cheap little instrument, often shaped like a lyre. Seems obvious. But I can't see how anyone would be insulted by it, since it's such a swell instrument. ;)

I'm not sure why, but I am really bothered by 'jaw harp' and similar variations ('juice harp' is the worst) of the name. Those kind of sneaky PC reconstructions of words that make us feel guilty aren't needed when there are plenty of perfectly good replacement words out there. Call it a khomus or a maultrommel, or ANYTHING but a goddamned juice harp. :)

---Lepus Rex