Terminology

The Truth About Jizz

March 28, 2011 by Mike 23 Comments

The concept that bird watchers can accurately identify birds by their general aspect and behavior rather than by any specific field marks has not only long been accepted, but is actually gaining greater popularity every year. One might debate just how useful or specific this methodology may be, but all agree on its overall utility. A controversy does exist, however, regarding exactly what to call it: are we talking about giss or jizz?

We recently ran a promotion for The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds asking respondents to predict the future of field guides. Considering that author Richard Crossley is a vocal proponent of employing pattern recognition in birding, it came as no surprise that many birders see this approach as essential to emphasize in the next generation of birding guides. The seven submissions that referenced this approach by name unanimously called it giss. This spelling seems to make a lot of sense. After all, doesn’t the term derive from an old acronym for General Impression of Size and Shape? Perhaps not…

In my post declaring “The Future of Birding Field Guides is GISS,” the estimable and erudite Duncan Wright asserted that, according to Wikipedia, the term GISS originated in World War II in reference to planes, whereas the the term jizz in relation to birds goes back to the 1920’s. Lo and behold, Wikipedia does say that, but precious little else. Still, this information seems to muddy the waters considerably. Perhaps the origins of the true term are shrouded in mystery, leaving the words equally interchangeable. Then again, perhaps not…

The equally erudite and estimable Harry Rutherford, flush with the full power of the internets at his fingertips, actually tracked down the prototypal publication of the term as a means of visual identification in Bird haunts and nature memories by T.A. Coward (1922). Harry even links to an image of the original page on openlibrary.org, which I’ll transcribe for your edification:

A West Coast Irishman was familiar with the wild creatures which dwelt on or visited his rocks and shores; at a glance he could name them, usually correctly, but if asked how he knew them would reply, “By their ‘jizz.’”

What is jizz? The spelling is uncertain; probably its author could not have informed us, whoever its inventor was; it is certainly not in most dictionaries. Possibly, the word has never before been written, so that we are justified in spelling it phonetically. We have not coined it, but how wide its use in Ireland we cannot say; it may have origin in this one fertile Celtic brain, or it may have been handed down from father to son for many generations. One thing is certain; it is short and expressive. If we are walking on the road and see, far ahead, someone whom we recognise although we can neither distinguish features nor particular clothes, we may be certain that we are not mistaken; there is something in the carriage, the walk, the general appearance which is familiar; it is, in fact, that individual’s jizz.

Clearly, the definitive spelling of this word is JIZZ; misspell it at your peril! But did this expressive, evocative word spring fully formed from one nascent birder’s brain? Harry adds what may be the final truth about jizz:

On the subject of the etymology, T.A. Coward says, “Since the publication of the first edition, a friend pointed out that in Webster’s Dictionary both ‘gis‘ and ‘jis‘ are given as obsolete varients of ‘guise‘, and this seems to be the origin of the expressive word.”

Or perhaps not…

Written by Mike
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.