ragtime（n.）
也称为 rag-time，"节奏感强、爵士风格的钢琴音乐"，1896年，可能源自 rag "舞蹈舞会"（1895年，美国英语方言），或者是 ragged 的缩写，指的是节奏感强的旋律。Rag（名词）"拉格泰姆舞曲"始于1897年。
If rag-time was called tempo di raga or rague-temps it might win honor more speedily. ... What the derivation of the word is[,] I have not the faintest idea. The negroes call their clog-dancing "ragging" and the dance a "rag." [Rupert Hughes, Boston Musical Record, April 1900]
如果将拉格泰姆称为 tempo di raga 或 rague-temps，它可能会更快地赢得荣誉。... 关于这个词的起源，我一点也不知道。黑人称他们的踢踏舞为"ragging"，舞蹈称为"rag"。[鲁珀特·休斯，《波士顿音乐记录》，1900年4月]
Conceive the futility of trying to reduce the intangible ragness to a strict system of misbegotten grace notes and untimely rests! In attempting to perfect, and simplify, art is destroying the unhampered spirit in which consists the whole beauty of rag-time music. The very essence of rag-time is that it shall lack all art, depending for the spirit to be infused more upon the performer than upon the composer himself. [Yale Literary Magazine, June 1899]
试图将无形的"ragness"归结为一套严格的错误优雅音符和不合时宜的休止符的系统，其无用之处可想而知！在试图完善和简化的过程中，艺术正在破坏那种无拘无束的精神，而这种精神正是拉格泰姆音乐的整个美丽所在。拉格泰姆的本质就在于它应该缺乏一切艺术，更多地依赖于演奏者而不是作曲家本人来注入精神。[《耶鲁文学杂志》，1899年6月]
Her first "rag-time" was "The Bully," in which she made great sport by bringing a little coloured boy on the stage with her. Miss [May] Irwin says the way to learn to sing "rag-time" is to catch a negro and study him. [Lewis C. Strang, "Famous Actresses of the Day in America," Boston, 1899]
她的第一首"拉格泰姆"是《恶霸》，她在舞台上带了一个小黑男孩，给大家带来了很多乐趣。伊尔温小姐说学唱"拉格泰姆"的方法是抓住一个黑人并研究他。[刘易斯·C·斯特朗，《当代美国著名女演员》，波士顿，1899年]
该词起源时间：1896年