Talk:Jerk
|
|
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorj.htm states:
Jerk is an old word, dating to the sixteenth century. The word echoes the sound made by a short, sharp movement. The word is unremarkable, except that it has several modern, slang usages that are interesting.A soda jerk is someone who makes a living by jerking, or pulling, sodas at a lunch counter, the name coming from the jerking motion required to open a tap. <p> To jerk off is to masturbate, again coming from the motion required. <p> A jerkwater train was originally a small locomotive that serviced branch lines. Its small boiler requiring frequent filling by train crews which would have to dismount, form a bucket brigade, and jerk water from a river to feed the steam engine. The term dates to the 1870s and is American in origin. The term jerkwater town eventually came to mean any rustic or backwards town, along a train line or not. <p> Finally, the most common usage of jerk, meaning a fool or inept person, probably derives from jerkwater. A jerk being a resident of a jerkwater town. This usage dates to the 1930s. <p> The term jerky, meaning dried and preserved meat has a different origin. That is a corruption of the Peruvian Spanish charque, meaning (what else?) dried and preserved meat. </blockquote> I didn't have time to modify the article. I would like to point out that while "jerk" often implies stupidity or incompetence, that is usually not the most common usage. The most common one, as I've heard, refers to someone who frequently behaves in a manner inconsiderate of other people (on a local scale, as in "That jerk cut me off," or on a global scale, as in "Chicks dig jerks"). 23:22pm EST 2004 March 21
Would you please add references that give more information about the Jerk.
I added the English-language slang meaning of Jerk. If this qualifies as a dicdef and therefore does not belong, remove it.
I believe I'm correct in saying that the origin of the term is unclear but may have come from one of those two derivations. If I am not, and there is someone who knows its correct origin, please post it. Mike Church 10:02, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- It does and I did.—Herbee 06:40, 2004 Mar 17 (UTC)