Externet Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Why is this word so widely used in English, with apparent multiple meanings if it really means anything ? Where does it come from ?jackassjackrabbitcar jackjacknifejackalopejackupjackhammeramberjackMonterey jackpepperjackblackjacklojackjackscrewjack-o-lanternskipjackjackpotjack in the boxcracker jackjack-o-lanternJacks in playing cards Plus the ones you know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raider5678 Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) Why is this word so widely used in English, with apparent multiple meanings if it really means anything ? Where does it come from ? jackass jackrabbit car jack jacknife jackalope jackup jackhammer amberjack Monterey jack pepperjack blackjack lojack jackscrew jack-o-lantern skipjack jackpot jack in the box cracker jack jack-o-lantern Jacks in playing cards Plus the ones you know... The reason it is so widely used is because it's meaning don't mean jack. I mean, try saying "Cut-O-Lantern" or "Vibrator Hammer" or "Big pot" or "Cracker mix" or "peppered moldy milk cheese" or (fill in the blank replacing "jack" with a term that could replace it.) Edited March 22, 2017 by Raider5678 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapatos Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 jack (n.) late 14c., jakke "a mechanical device," from the masc. name Jack. The proper name was used in Middle English for "any common fellow," and thereafter extended to various appliances which do the work of common servants (1570s). Also used generically of male animals (1620s, see jackass, jackdaw, etc.). As a portable contrivance for raising weight by force from below, 1703. As the name of a device for pulling off boots from 1670s. The jack in a pack of playing cards (1670s) is in German Bauer "peasant." Slang meaning "money" is by 1890 (in earlier slang it meant "a small coin"). Jack-towel, one sewn together at the ends round a roller, is from 1795. The jack of Union Jack is a nautical term for "small flag at the bow of a ship" (1630s) and perhaps is from the word's secondary sense of "smaller than normal size." jack (v.) 1860, jack up "hoist, raise, lift with a jack," American English, from jack (n.) in the appliance sense. Figurative sense "increase (prices, etc.)" is 1904, American English. Related: Jacked; jacking. Jack off (v.) "masturbate" is attested from 1916, probably from jack (n.) in the old slang sense of "(erect) penis." http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 jack shit ˌjak ˈSHit noun noun jackshit noun jack shit plural noun jack shits plural noun jackshits anything at all. Web definitions Nothing is a pronoun denoting the absence of anything. Nothing is a pronoun associated with nothingness. In nontechnical uses, nothing denotes things lacking importance, interest, value, relevance, or significance. ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Shit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringJunky Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 It is a prefix or suffix with a meaning that can mean 'male', 'large', 'heavy' or 'lift'. I'll put some examples by your list. jackass big idiot jackrabbit male rabbit car jack car lift jacknife a large penknife and to 'jacknife a lorry' mimics the closing action of a jacknife jackalope jackup lift up jackhammer large hammer amberjack Monterey jack pepperjack blackjack lojack jackscrew lifting screw jack-o-lantern skipjack jackpot large pot (of winnings) jack in the box cracker jack jack-o-lantern Jacks in playing cards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raider5678 Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 It is a prefix or suffix with a meaning that can mean 'male', 'large', 'heavy' or 'lift'. I'll put some examples by your list. jackass big idiot jackrabbit male rabbit car jack car lift jacknife a large penknife and to 'jacknife a lorry' mimics the closing action of a jacknife jackalope jackup lift up jackhammer large hammer amberjack Monterey jack pepperjack blackjack lojack jackscrew lifting screw jack-o-lantern skipjack jackpot large pot (of winnings) jack in the box cracker jack jack-o-lantern Jacks in playing cards Jack in the box? Cracker jack? Skipjack? Blackjack? I agree with you, it has those 4 meanings. But what other meanings make these make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zapatos Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 In 1896, the first lot of Cracker Jack was produced, the same year the name was registered. It was named by an enthusiastic sampler who remarked: "That's a crackerjack!" (a colloquialism meaning "of excellent quality" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_Jack When twenty-one was introduced in the United States, gambling houses offered bonus payouts to stimulate players' interest. One such bonus was a ten-to-one payout if the player's hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black jack (either the jack of clubs or the jack of spades). This hand was called a "blackjack", and the name stuck to the game even though the ten-to-one bonus was soon withdrawn. In the modern game, a blackjack refers to any hand of an ace plus a ten or face card regardless of suits or colours. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackjack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringJunky Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) 'jack-o-lantern' is derived from a story, it appears. It could, also be a source of jackass because the character was a bad person .....Eventually the drinking took its toll on Jack; he died the way he lived. After he died, Jack's soul prepared to enter Heaven through the gates of St. Peter, but he was stopped. And Jack was told by God that because of his sinful lifestyle of deceitfulness and drinking, he was not allowed into Heaven. Jack then went down to the Gates of Hell and begged for commission into underworld. Satan, fulfilling his obligation to Jack, could not take his soul. To warn others, he gave Jack an ember, marking him a denizen of the netherworld. From that day on until eternity's end, Jack is doomed to roam the world between the planes of good and evil, with only an ember inside a hollowed turnip ("turnip" actually referring to a large rutabaga) to light his way. (Full story in the link) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingy_Jack Edited March 22, 2017 by StringJunky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Jack of all trades. From "Jack of all trades, master of none" I prefer it as Jack of most trades master of some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringJunky Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Jack of all trades. From "Jack of all trades, master of none" I prefer it as Jack of most trades master of some. Jack, in that context, I think, means a common person that can do several things but has no guild membership of any particular trade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Yes - it means you can turn your hand to anything and be of sufficient use. I on the other hand am utterly useless at some things but amazing at few things. lol - thus my adaptation to the saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Wiki tells me that The word "jackalope" is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antelope", Jack is also used as a term for a bloke, so "jack in a box" makes sense. That's also the use in the context of steeplejack, jumberjack and the jack of all trades. The jack ass distinguishes it from a jill ass . The term jackass , as a term of abuse is based on the fact that no ass, (male or female) was ever perceived as very bright. I see the wrapper for Cracker jack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_Jack still features Jack tar- a sailor. I vaguely wonder if Blackjack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_(law_enforcement)#Blackjack has the same origin i.e. as a metaphorical reference to a sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 If I start discussing growing rhododendrons would that represent a thread hijack? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta1212 Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Jack in the box? Cracker jack? Skipjack? Blackjack? I agree with you, it has those 4 meanings. But what other meanings make these make sense? Jack in the box is clearly "Generic male name in the box" since that's literally what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Jack in the box is clearly "Generic male name in the box" since that's literally what it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack-in-the-box A theory as to the origin of the jack-in-the-box is that it comes from the 14th century English prelate Sir John Schorne,[3] who is often pictured holding a boot with a devil in it. According to folklore, he once cast the devil into a boot to protect the village of North Marston in Buckinghamshire. In French, a jack-in-the-box is called a "diable en boîte" (literally "boxed devil"). I thought I remembered a name for the devil involving Jack, but I can't find the reference. I might be thinking of Old Scratch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 You learn something new everyday - I just associated the Jack in the box with toys and games and thus have thought of the jack the same way as I do with the game - pick up jacks, where you bounce a ball and pick up the jacks on the ground before catching the ball again. Jack,as in a fella, makes much more sense for a Jack in the box, lol. Pick up Jacks - the game. The Jacks here are little metal spikey things like caltrops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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