Despite its common English name, and the sometimes used Jew's trump, it has no particular connection with the Jewish people or Judaism.
There are many theories for the origin of the name Jew's harp. One proposed explanation is that it is a corruption of "jaw harp", while a less likely explanation espoused by some is that its name comes from "juice harp" from the amount of saliva produced when played by inexperienced players. Both of these explanations lack historical backing, as both the "jaw" and the "juice" variants appeared only in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It has also been suggested that the name derives from the French "Jeu-trompe" meaning "toy-trumpet"
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Date: 2011-03-03 10:58 pm (UTC)Despite its common English name, and the sometimes used Jew's trump, it has no particular connection with the Jewish people or Judaism.
There are many theories for the origin of the name Jew's harp. One proposed explanation is that it is a corruption of "jaw harp", while a less likely explanation espoused by some is that its name comes from "juice harp" from the amount of saliva produced when played by inexperienced players. Both of these explanations lack historical backing, as both the "jaw" and the "juice" variants appeared only in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It has also been suggested that the name derives from the French "Jeu-trompe" meaning "toy-trumpet"
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Date: 2011-03-04 07:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-03 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 07:17 am (UTC)