Jaywalking

A frequently encountered but erroneous explanation for this expression is that people crossing busy streets never do so in a straight line. Because of the traffic, they end up walking in the shape of the letter J. If this were right then the expression would probably be J-walking. The origin in fact comes from the bird of the same name. The jay is a noisy, chattering bird of the genus gallurus (from which we derive the word garrulous). It is the most colourful bird of the crow family. A jay meaning a noisy chatterbox with the connotation of stupid has been around since the 16th century. The expression was taken to America, where the American blue jay was found in plentiful numbers. A jay meaning a third rate, worthless person was a common expression in 19th century America. It is easy to see how it became an expression for anyone stupid enough to cross a busy street in the wrong place. American cities started to penalise jaywalking as a pedestrian traffic offence during the second decade of the 20th century.