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OP
old hand
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Posts: 866 |
Greetings all - been away for a while.
What's the etymology of jerk - as in dolt, buffoon? Or should I just stick with the "below the belt" obvious?
stales
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Welcome back, stales. Lotta water over the bridge since you were here last. Always nice to have another West Islander back in the fold.
I'd say, stick with the obvious below the belt reference. Never underestimate the power of the vulgar.
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Dare I ask, then, (not trying to turn this into a food thread...) about Jamaican jerk chicken? Eeeeeeeeewwwww. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dare I ask, then...about Jamaican jerk chicken?I've often wondered, Fiberbabe. Seriously, though: it's from the Quechua through Spanish. See http://www.bartleby.com/61/21/J0032100.htmlAlso click on jerky˛.
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addict
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addict
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Seriously, though: it's from the Quechua through Spanish.
From Bartleby.com...
jerky - Alteration of charqui...
charqui - American Spanish, from Quechua ch'arki...
How timely, it's a double Hobson-Jobson!
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According to what I learned in AP Physics, in technical usage, a jerk is a change in acceleration, as acceleration is a change in velocity. That probably has nothing to do with the etymology, but I thought I point that out. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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a jerk is a change in acceleration... probably has nothing to do with the etymology,
Well it might but I won't say anything about it for fear of being accused of having my mind in the gutter.
What? Am I crowding you?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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From Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, WW Skeat:
JERK to give a sudden movement, throw with a quick action. (E.) Cotgrave has: "Fouetter, to scourge, lash, yerke, or jerke." In Shak. as a sb., L.L.L. iv. 2. 129. "A ierk, verber;" Levins, ed. 1570. "With that which jerks [lashes] the hams of every jade;" Bp. Hall, Satires, b. iii. sat. 5, l. 26. Lowland Sc. yerk, to beat, strike smartly; a smart blow. "To jerke or gerke;" Minsheu, ed. 1627. "A girke or yerke of a rod or whip;" Minsheu's Span. Diet. (E. index). Halliwell also gives: "Girk, a rod; also, to beat." Another form is jert. Cotgrave has: "Attainte, a reach, hit, blow, stroke, ... a gentle nip, quip, or jert, a sleight gird, or taxation." Moreover, the words jert and gird were regarded as equivalent; thus Sherwood has, in his index to Cotgrave: "A jert or gerd, Attainte." The words jerk, jert, and gird are probably all connected, and all had once the same meaning, viz. to strike, esp. with a whip or rod. The only one of these three forms found in ME. is gurden, girden, to strike; see gurden in Stratmann. ... It may be added that the usual meaning of jerk in old authors is to whip, to lash; as partly shown above.
From Slang and Euphemism Dictionary, Richard Spears:
jerk 1. to masturbate. [British, 1800s] 2. a masturbator. From JERK OFF (sense 2). For synonyms see HUSKER [US Slang, 1800s-pres]. 3. an oaf or incompetent fool. The connection with sense 1 is rarely recognized [except on the AWAD board]. [US slang, 1800s-pres] ...
I shall now snigger whenever I speak of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, for reasons other than their basketball prowess.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Jerky - I am surprised that this word should be of South American Indian, then Spanish origin. I have seen the word in many stories about the explorers in North America learning to preserve meat for travel this way from the American Indians. There is another word, Pemmican, with fat and berries added to give something approaching a balanced diet during long journeys.
dried lean meat, pounded into a paste with fat and preserved in the form of pressed cakes
2 dried beef, suet, dried fruit, etc., prepared as a concentrated high-energy food, used for emergency rations, as on arctic expeditions
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