[lit-ideas] Re: Joy and Satisfaction...


On Aug 19, 2008, at 11:29 AM, cblists@xxxxxxxx wrote:
(Why are all others 'jam' but orange 'marmalade'? The German 'Marmelade' [note the 2 'e's] has the same extension as the English 'jam'.)
All the others were marmalade before they were jam, is the short answer; marmalade is the older term though the OED's earliest English refs are to concoctions made of quince (quynce) and dates and cherries. The first reference to orange marmalade is from 1767, which is about when people began to use the term "jam" for a spread that was made by jamming or bruising or crushing the fruit. The first reference is to jam made from cherries or raspberries, but currents come soon after, so if there are any arguments from historical example to be made...cherries and currents have to be included.
Americans have a fruit, from the tree Genipa Americana, which is itself called marmalade. Pineapples and guavas have both been called "marmalade fruits." Paradoxically, women who in London were making a street living were called "marmalade madams," but a "marmalade-eater" was someone who had been brought up to be dainty. Either person could be accused of "putting on jam," which in Australian slang means to "put on airs." Clearly jam was a bit of a luxury; "real jam" or "jam and fritters," were both slang for "the good stuff," and suggesting that someone might "want jam on it" is to imply that he or she wants too much.
And yes, there is a link with pyjamas! Pyjamas come from the persian and urdu term for foot or leg, pae, plus jamah, clothing. Hence "jim jams" and "jammies." Pyjamas were a nineteenth century adoption. But there was a clothing jam before jammies; jammah was in 1793, a long muslin dress which, when adopted by children in England, was called a "jam." Thus jam clothing and jam, the stuff in jars, were adopted into English within decades of one another, but with completely different origins.
Bakeapple jam? Nom de dieu! Hand me the marmite. Does anyone else find it odd that this most British of spreads is named after a French pot? The web is unable to offer a good explanation, but wikipedia does mention under "marmite in popular culture" that Edward de Bono advised the foreign office that the Arab Israeli conflict might be exacerbated by low levels of zinc in the diet. "He suggested shipping out jars of Marmite to compensate." 

David Ritchie,
quite the jammy dodger today in,
Portland, Oregon ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
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