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jerk

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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
  • 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