jerk

Jerk, a sudden pull, is of uncertain, perhaps imitative origin; jerk, to cure meat in strips, is from American Spanish, from Quechua.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /dʒɜːk/, US /dʒɝːk/^[4]

jerk¹ sudden pull

Etymology

It is of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative of the sound or action of a blow;^[1][2][3][5] it is synonymous with obsolete jert and yerk of the 16th century,^[3] and Merriam-Webster takes it as probably an alteration of yerk.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lash or strike with a whip: 1550, in Coverdale.^[1][6] The noun, a stroke of a whip, is from 1555.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense to pull or twist suddenly is first recorded in Nashe's An Almond for a Parrot,^[1] the 1580s in Etymonline,^[2] and the noun, a sharp sudden pull, from 1575.^[7] Making a sudden spasmodic movement is from about 1600,^[2] and the jerks, involuntary twitching, from 1805.^[7][2] Physical jerks, exercises, is from 1919.^[7] The slang sense, a stupid or contemptible person, is from 1935, American carnival or underworld slang,^[1][2][8] perhaps from the earlier jerk “insignificant” in jerkwater (1897), a small town where a steam train stopped to take on water,^[1][2] or from jerk off, to masturbate.^[2] The dance called the jerk is from 1966.^[2]

Timeline

• 1550 – to lash.^[1][6]
• 1575 – a sharp pull (noun).^[7]
• 1580s – to pull suddenly.^[2]
• 1805 – the jerks.^[7][2]
• 1919 – physical jerks.^[7]
• 1935 – a contemptible person.^[1][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A sudden abrupt movement, such as a yank or twist.
2. An involuntary spasmodic muscular movement; a twitch.
3. (slang) A stupid, foolish or contemptible person.

Verb

1. To move or pull with a sudden abrupt motion.
2. To utter words abruptly or breathlessly.

Word family

• jerky
• jerkily
• jerkwater
• knee-jerk

jerk² cured meat

Etymology

It is from American borrowed from Spanish charquear, from charquí, jerked meat,^[1][3] from Quechua ch'arki.^[1][3] An earlier English form was jerkin beef (17th century).^[3] Merriam-Webster treats the verb as a back-formation from jerky.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To cure meat by cutting it into long thin strips and drying it in the sun: 1707, in American English.^[1][6]

Semantic evolution

The noun, jerked meat, is from 1799,^[1] and jerky from 1850.^[1] In Jamaican cooking, jerk is meat seasoned and barbecued, traditionally over allspice wood.^[9]

Timeline

• 17th century – jerkin beef.^[3]
• 1707 – to jerk meat.^[1][6]
• 1799 – jerk (noun).^[1]
• 1850 – jerky.^[1]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To cut meat into long strips and dry it in the sun or cure it with smoke.

Adjective

1. Of a Jamaican way of seasoning and barbecuing meat, traditionally wrapped in allspice leaves.

Word family

• jerky

Related words

• yerk

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin