joker English · revision 39963

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1729}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈd͡ʒəʊkə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈd͡ʒoʊkɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|joke|-er]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who jokes, a jester or merry fellow: 1729, in Thomas Cooke's ''Tales''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1726,^(MWU 2024) and Dictionary.com to 1720–30.^(Dictionary.com 2016) Johnson (1755) defined it as "a jester; a merry fellow".^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In slang ''joker'' came to mean simply a man or fellow by 1811,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(GDoS) a use that became especially Australian and New Zealand.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline thinks this general sense is probably the source of the name of the extra playing card, which it dates to 1868;^(Etymonline) the OED's first example of the card is from 1885.^(OED 2026) According to Etymonline, an 1894 newspaper claimed that the card began as a blank one that American makers added to the pack, but the historian of card games David Parlett showed that it was invented for euchre, a form of which used an extra card, so that the name may owe something to that of the game, itself from German ''Jucker''.^(Etymonline) In the United States ''joker'' was used from 1904 for a clause slipped into a bill or a contract that changes its effect in a way not at first apparent.^(OED 2026) In American drug slang it meant a hypodermic syringe, or an injection of morphine (1925).^(GDoS) In Oxfordshire dialect a ''joker'' was a tin can with a narrow neck in which farm workers took their tea or beer to the fields.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1729 – one who jokes.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1811 – (slang) a man, a fellow.^(OED 2026)^(GDoS)

+ * 1858 – something used to play a trick.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1868 – the extra playing card.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1885 – the playing card (OED).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1904 – a clause in a bill that changes its effect.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1925 – (US drug slang) a hypodermic syringe.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who tells [[joke|alt=jokes]] or plays tricks: ''Our uncle was the family joker.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (informal, often derogatory) A person, especially one regarded as foolish or [[incompetent]]: ''Which joker left the gate open?''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # An extra [[playing card]], often showing a [[jester]], which in many games can stand for any other card or ranks above the rest.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (chiefly US) A [[clause]] inserted in a bill or contract that makes it ineffective or changes its effect in a way not immediately apparent.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[joke]]

+ * [[jocular]]

+ * [[jest]]

+ * [[euchre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}