A-Z Database
One who jerks off is not necessarily a jerk. Jerk off is American slang from the late 19th century for male masturbation.
Originally a 20 litre can for gasoline used by the German army from 1937. According to the OED, Jerry is a jocular designation for a German soldier fi...
The everyday garment is named after Jersey worsted, a type of woollen fabric that originally came from Jersey, the Channel Island. Jersey worsted date...
This quotation from the New Testament is now commonly used as an oath or exclamation of surprise or disappointment. The source is John 11:35, “Jesus w...
Meaning a deep, black colour dates from the mid-15th century and derives from the geological material known as jet, which is part of the lignite group...
This is a slightly more modern form of jetsam but not by much. Both words have been used since the 15th century. Jettison now means to throw anything...
see In a jiff/jiffy
Jiggery-pokery means dishonest or deceitful goings-on, as in the sentence, “I could not be sure, but I suspected there was some sort of jiggery-pokery...
Jim-jam is what the OED likes to call “a fanciful reduplicated formation with vowel alternation”, like flim-flam, flip-flop etc. Jim-jam originates fr...
An American minced oath for Jesus Christ dates from the early 20th century, also a famous Walt Disney character since 1940. It is doubtful Disney woul...
Rhyming slang for piddle, i.e. urinate, Jimmy Riddle/piddle, dates from the late 19th century and does not derive from any known person.
As in the jingle of bells, spurs, keys etc dates from the 14th century and is purely imitative or echoic in origin. Jingle in the sense of a catching...
Scots dialect word meaning, to move in a sudden, quick manner dates from the early 18th century. Rugby commentators talk of players setting off on a j...
In Greek mythology, Iynx, from whom the word is derived, was a nymph, the daughter of Pan. Her speciality was love potions, one of which induced Zeus...
A style of energetic swing or jazz dancing that originated in Harlem. New York in the early 1920s. It originated from a similar style of dancing calle...