jack pudding
The merry andrew, zany, or jester to a mountebank.
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Jack rafter
A rafter in a hipped roof, shorter than a full-sized one.
jack randall
(a noted pugilist), a candle.
Jack rib
An inferior rib in an arch, being shorter than the rest.
Jack Rice
An Australian race-horse once noted for his performance over the hurdles; hence to have a rofl Jack Rice couldn't jump over is to have a lot of money.
jack robinson
Before one could say Jack Robinson; a saying to express a very short time, originating from a very volatile gentleman of that appellation, who would call on his neighbours, and be gone before his name could be announced.
jack sprat
A dwarf, or diminutive fellow.
Jack Sprat
A dwarf; as if sprats were dwarf mackerels. Children, by a similar metaphor, are called small fry.
Jack Straw
The name (or nickname) of one of the leaders in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. There is an allusion to him in Chaucer's Nun's Prologue (1386), and the name soon came to signify a man of straw, a worthless sort of person.
Jack Tar
A sailor in the British Royal Navy
Jack Tar
A common sailor, whose hands and clothes are tarred by the ship's tackling.
Jack the Giant-killer
The hero of this old nursery tale owed much of his success to his four marvellous possessions — an invisible coat, a cap of wisdom, shoes of swiftness, and a resistless sword. When he put on his coat no eye could see him ; when he had his shoes on no one could overtake him; his sword would cut through everything; and when his cap was on he knew eyerything he required to know.
Jack the Ripper
An unknown person who committed a series of murders on prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888-89. He gave himself the name, and the mystery surrounding his crimes made it very widely known.
Jack timbers
Timbers in a building shorter than the rest.
jack's as good as his master
An old proverb (like "When Adam delve'd and Eve span*'; see ADAM) indicating the equality of man.
jack-at-a-pinch
One whose assistance is only sought on an emergency. Jack-in-the-water, an attendant at the watermen’s stairs on the river and sea-port towns, who does not mind wetting his feet for a customer’s convenience, in consideration of a douceur.
jack-in-the-box
A small but powerful kind of screw, used by burglars to break open safes.
jackanapes
An ape; a pert, ugly, little fellow.
jacked
Spavined. A jacked horse.
jacked-up
Ruined, done for. To JACK-UP is to leave off doing anything suddenly. See CHUCK-UP.
jacket
The skin of a potato which has not been pared before cooking. In Ireland potatoes are generally served "with their JACKETS on."
jacketing
A thrashing. Similar term to leathering, cowhiding, &c.
jackey
Gin. Seven Dials originally. Nearly general now.
jacks
AND HALF-JACKS, card counters, resembling in size and appearance sovereigns and half-sovereigns, for which they are occasionally passed to simple persons. In large gambling establishments the "heaps of gold" are frequently composed of JACKS. JACKS are not, as they are sometimes supposed to be, counterfeit coins; they are simply little medals, and so "magsmen" and "street muggers" carry them with less concern than they would feel were their pockets loaded with spurious money.
jacksy
Backside
jacky
A sailor.
jacob
A ladder.
jacob
A soft fellow. A fool.
jacob
A ladder. Grose says, from Jacob’s dream.—Old Cant.
Jacob and Esau
Twin brothers with opposing natures
jacob's staff
A pilgrim's staff; from the Apostle James (Lat. Jacobus), who is usually represented with a staff and scallop shell.
jacob's stone
The Coronation Stone (see SCONE) is sometimes so called, because of the legend that it was on this stone that Jacob s head rested when he had the vision of the angels ascending and descending the ladder (Gen. xxvni, 11).
jacobites
Sham or collar shirts. Also partizans for the Stuart family: from the name of the abdicated king, i.e. James or Jacobus. It is said by the whigs, that God changed Jacob's name to Israel, lest the descendants of that patriarch should be called Jacobites.
jacobs
Testicles.
jacob’s ladder
A longitudinal flaw in the leg of a ballet-girl’s tights.
Jacquard Loom
So called from Jos. Marie Jacquard (1752-1834), of Lyons, its inventor. It is a machine for weaving figures upon silks and muslins.
jade
A term of reproach to women.
jagger
A gentleman. German, JAGER, a sportsman.
jague
A ditch: perhaps from jakes.
jail-bird
A prisoner, one who has been in jail.
jakes
A house of office, a cacatorium.
jam jar
A car.
jam roll
Parole.
jam session
A meeting of jazz musicians improvising spontaneously, without rehearsal. Jamboree (jam. bo re'), originally meaning a noisy merry-making, this word is now more usually applied to a large rally of Boy Scouts, usually of an international scope.
jam tart
Heart
jam today
something desirable that is available now
jam tomorrow
Promised benefits that never actually materialize
jamaican proverbs
Wise sayings originating from Jamaica
jambox
boom box
james
A sovereign, or twenty shillings. From JACOBUS, the James II. guinea.
James I
Among the richest of the Lombard merchant princes was the celebrated Medici family, from whose armorial bearings the insignia of three golden balls has been derived.
James M
Kieran of the New York Times to the advisers of Franklin Roosevelt in his election campaign. Later applied to the group of college professors who advised him in administering the New Deal. In England the name was given to a popular radio programme in which well-known public figures aired their views on questions sub- mitted by listeners.
JAMES V
"It [the crown of Scotland] came with a lass and will go with a lass.'* (This he said when told that the queen had given birth to a daughter — the future Mary Queen of Scots.
jammy
A gun.
jamoke
Coffee.
Jane Average
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Jane Doe
a female placeholder name
Jane Hancock
a person's signature
Jane Roe
a placeholder name for a woman in a legal case
janizaries
The mob, sometimes so called; also bailiffs, their setters, and followers.