jism slang (orig. U.S.). Also chism. gism, jizz, etc. [origin unknown] a. Energy, strength. b. Semen, sperm. In sense b often regarded as a taboo-word. Oxford English Dictionary - Second Edition

And what more could you possibly wish to know? There can be few people who cannot associate semen and energy on a fundamental level, both in the ejaculation and life-giving properties that jism contains; and the word demands an immediacy of pronunciation that invokes its meaning in the clearest possible way. Most obviously its superiority to the noun "cum", not only a soft and apologetic word but one plagued with double-entendres, cannot possibly be denied.

The OED, as with all words included within its pages, also provides a number of supporting quotations which are useful to those who wish to have a true appreciation of the word. As with all OED quotations, they are selected to give a complete context within which the words meaning is clearly divined. Because of this, the first quote used dates from 1842, originating from what would appear to be a US journal of some kind, but this is not necessarily its first written example:

1842 Spirit of Times 29 Oct. 409/3 At the drawgate Spicer tried it on again, but his horse was knocked up - 'the gism' and the starch was effectively taken out of him by the long and desperate struggles he had been obliged to maintain.

Earlier examples of the word do apparently exist but although many of the earliest examples appear to originate in the southern US, this fact cannot be reliably confirmed; hence the "origin unknown" in the OED definition. The other key definitions are as follows:

1899 B.W. GREEN Word-bk. Virginia Folk Speech 85 Chism, chissum, seminal fluid. 1937 J. WEIDMAN I can get it for you Wholesale! xxxii. 314 'Step on it, will you?' 'Sure...' 'All right,.. but put a little jism into it will you?' 1942 C. MORLEY Thorofare (1943) xxxvii. 137 One of the same fields that the major said had had the jizzum leached out of it by tobacco. 1955 T. STERLING Evil of Day vii. 76 The man had more jisum than he'd counted on. 1959 W. BURROUGHS Naked Lunch 90 The Moslems must have blood and jissom... See, see where Christ's blood streams in the spermament. 1967 S. BECKETT Stories & Texts for Nothing 85 A week will be ample, a week in spring, that puts the jizz in you. 1968 J. UPDIKE Couples iv. 311 Georgene would wash herself before and after. Said his jizz ran down her leg, too much of it. 1969 P. ROTH Portnoy's Complaint 132. You've got to .. work round downtown Newark dripping gissum down your forehead. 1972 Screw 12 June 35/3 At last I felt my gism rushing up like electricity and I .. felt the love bolt burst out of my cock into her vacuum sucking mouth.

In addition, Neil Fulton, Assistant Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, has suggested that the word may have antecedents in some of the major West African Languages, although he did indicate that this was pure speculation.

Watchers of Bernadette Davis and Andrew Davies' BBC2 comedy series Game On will also be acutely aware of the rising popularity of the word. Perhaps the best example from the series is shown here; an emotional damnation of the outside world by the agoraphobic Matthew:

"Nice out? Are you completely insane, Martin? Nice out for the slime surfers. Nice out for the skunk pussies. Nice out for the lymph leeches and the jissom monkeys and eyeball suckers. Nice out? It's not nice out. It's scum out, Martin." Game On: Roundheads and Cavaliers, Hat Trick Productions, 1996

As a matter of interest, the next episode was entitled Slime Surfers and Jissom Monkeys. This is probably an indication of an unhealthy interest in the word on the part of the writers, but it does, however, highlight an considerable problem for the foundation: what exactly is the correct spelling?

The options available are many and dictionary manufacturers are prone to use which ever one suits their purpose. Terry Thorne's Dictionary of Contemporary Slang lists many more of the most common, including contractions.

jissom, jiss, jizz, jism, jissum, gism n semen. A word of unknown origin, dating from the 19th Century in the USA and by the early 1970s in use all over the English-speaking world. Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, Bloomsbury Reference, 1997 Edition

The OED example also suggests "chism", but this is very rarely seen outside the Spice Girls fan club. Harper Collins' English Dictionary prefers the Game On spelling, others dictionaries take one, or many of the others. Who is correct? That, I'm afraid, is too difficult to say; even the OED's first quote suggests it should be "gism". Their linguists however, based on the rules of pronunciations and grammar, has opted to list it under "jism" and this must be the lead followed by the foundation. The fact it makes for a better logo is beside the point.

This is by no means a comprehensive insight into the history of the word, for which I can only apologise. The full etymology could take a lifetime to uncover and I'm not inclined to spend too much time sorting out the past when the word's future beckons. Jism is the most perfect and uncorrupted word we have available to us and as such it should be propagated throughout the English speaking world, starting with the civilised bits. After all, with Jism you know where you stand.