33 votes

Jizz (Birding)

15 comments

  1. [4]
    Foreigner
    Link
    Hardly surprising in a field where tits, boobies, cocks and peckers are commonplace ;)

    Hardly surprising in a field where tits, boobies, cocks and peckers are commonplace ;)

    21 votes
    1. Fiachra
      Link Parent
      Don't forget the swallow

      Don't forget the swallow

      17 votes
    2. [2]
      chocobean
      Link Parent
      Finally looked up tit from etymonline. Inconclusive, the earliest uses are "an object of erotic attraction (late 14c.)" and "1540s, a word used for a small or poor horse, also later of any small...

      Finally looked up tit from etymonline. Inconclusive, the earliest uses are "an object of erotic attraction (late 14c.)" and "1540s, a word used for a small or poor horse, also later of any small animal or object, as in bird names titmouse, tom-tit, titlark (1660s), titling "pipit" (1819); tit-babbler (1893), etc."

      Rather confirms that birders have always been cheeky.

      7 votes
      1. daychilde
        Link Parent
        I see what you did there.

        cheeky

        I see what you did there.

        4 votes
  2. [5]
    kovboydan
    Link

    The concept was popularised in birdwatching, but is so useful that it has since been adopted increasingly widely by field biologists in referring to the impression of the general characteristics of other animals. It similarly appears in such fields of observational biology as microscopy. Ecologists and botanists may speak of "habitat jizz" or the jizz of a plant.

    Sean Dooley described jizz as "the indefinable quality of a particular species, the 'vibe' it gives off" and notes that although it is "dismissed by many as some kind of birding alchemy, there is some physical basis to the idea of jizz."

    Etymology

    The term was first used in print in 1922, in the ornithologist Thomas Coward's "Country Diary" column for The Manchester Guardian of 6 December 1921; the piece was subsequently included in his 1922 book Bird Haunts and Nature Memories. He attributed it to "a west-coast Irishman", and explained:

    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, the individual's jizz.

    Jeremy Greenwood concludes that the term was further popularised by its use by Miss E. I. Turner, "a popular author", in the journal Open Air in 1923.

    There is a theory that it comes from the World War II RAF acronym GISS for "General Impression of Size and Shape (of an aircraft)", but the use of the term in 1922 precludes that. Another theory is that jizz is a corruption of gestalt, a German word that roughly means form or shape. Other possibilities include the word gist, or a contraction of just is. These theories were debunked by the ornithologist Jeremy Greenwood and his brother Julian in 2018.

    9 votes
    1. [4]
      TheRtRevKaiser
      Link Parent
      Jesus H. Christ, I needed that laugh... /noise

      it is, in fact, the individual's jizz

      Jesus H. Christ, I needed that laugh...

      /noise

      5 votes
      1. [2]
        kovboydan
        Link Parent
        You might find this interesting: Avian Figures and the Fluidity of “Jizz”. First Paragraph of Linked Page In the United States, “jizz” most commonly appears as a slang term for semen, yet...

        You might find this interesting: Avian Figures and the Fluidity of “Jizz”.

        First Paragraph of Linked Page In the United States, “jizz” most commonly appears as a slang term for semen, yet initially emerged in British English as a fast method of field identification implemented by skilled birdwatchers and naturalists around the world. Jizz, as such, is messy, fluid, somewhat opaque, linked to embodied knowledge, and incredibly generative across diverse contexts. Linguistic evidence suggests the two semantic identities of jizz might be simultaneously inhabitable and etymologically interchangeable, yet all lineage is uncertain. Legend and literature have accused “jizz” of being a polysemic bastardization of an acronym, a backronym, and any one of a line-up of possible parent words. The extent to which this messiness, fluidity, and opacity penetrates jizz to its core makes this term ripe for generating a full-bodied rhetorical investigation.
        5 votes
        1. daychilde
          Link Parent
          someone had way too much fun writing that…

          someone had way too much fun writing that…

          2 votes
      2. daychilde
        Link Parent
        I shall label yours as noise per implied request and post my reply under yours so it's not a top level reply: Well, we could apply it to astronomy. The solar system is a fascinating place, and I'm...

        I shall label yours as noise per implied request and post my reply under yours so it's not a top level reply:

        Well, we could apply it to astronomy. The solar system is a fascinating place, and I'm thinking about studying the jizz around Uranus.

        3 votes
  3. [5]
    BroiledBraniac
    Link
    We should just use "jizz" as a synonym for "vibe" in a normal slang context.

    We should just use "jizz" as a synonym for "vibe" in a normal slang context.

    13 votes
    1. [4]
      DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      But we'd never know if we're discussing the Star Wars musical genre or just vibes!

      But we'd never know if we're discussing the Star Wars musical genre or just vibes!

      11 votes
      1. [3]
        BroiledBraniac
        Link Parent
        I just want an opportunity to tell someone they have 'Skibbidi Rizz Jizz,' okay?

        I just want an opportunity to tell someone they have 'Skibbidi Rizz Jizz,' okay?

        14 votes
        1. DefinitelyNotAFae
          Link Parent
          I'm not going to be the one to stop you! Also I hate that that kind of made sense

          I'm not going to be the one to stop you!

          Also I hate that that kind of made sense

          7 votes
        2. [2]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. daychilde
            Link Parent
            The internet never ceases to amaze.

            The internet never ceases to amaze.

            1 vote
  4. Noox
    Link
    On Tildes, I would usually not encourage an answer such as mine below, but strongly feel it's the only appropriate way to expres my opinion on this matter: wut.jpeg

    On Tildes, I would usually not encourage an answer such as mine below, but strongly feel it's the only appropriate way to expres my opinion on this matter:

    wut.jpeg

    8 votes