JAZZERCISE

noun (Health and Fitness) (Lifestyle and Leisure) The trade mark of a physical exercise programme normally carried out in a class to the accompaniment of jazz music. Etymology: Formed by telescoping jazz and exercise to make a blend, after the model of dancercise (a similar American invention of the sixties). History and Usage: Jazzercise originated in the US, where the trade mark was first registered in 1977, claiming a first use in 1974. The programme was invented in 1969 by Judi Sheppard Misset, an American jazz-dance instructor, but only named Jazzercise some years later. Jazzercise was one of many physical exercise programmes competing for coverage in the fitness-conscious eighties: compare aerobics, Aquarobics, and Callanetics. Although protected by trade mark registration for Misset's programme of exercises, the word is sometimes used without a capital initial in the more general sense of any exercise done to jazz music. She wanted to know whether in the jazzercise routine done to the words 'I want a man with a slow hand' your hips bumped left or right on 'hand'. New Yorker 27 Aug. 1984, p. 36 Jazzercise, the keep-fit regimen for women of the '80s, should not be overdone...'Jazzercise is not a gruelling thing but it does provide the basis for a good fitness program.' Sun (Brisbane) 21 Sept. 1988, p. 17