I have occasionally noticed that in older books (or books with an older setting)

[conuly]

referring to a person as "a jerk" doesn't always seem to mean the same thing I would mean if I said those words. For example, in The Wednesday Wars the main character complains that racing bent over would make him look "like a jerk" and my reaction was something along the lines of DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Still, language changes. What surprised me was seeing something akin to what I think of as "the older definition" in a recent work, written by somebody around my age, that is ostensibly set in the present.

Poll #20721 Jerk

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 141

View Respondents

If you call somebody "a jerk", what do you mean?

View Answers

That they are a contemptibly foolish person, but I frequently hear the other definition
2 (1.4%)

That they are a contemptibly foolish person, but I am somewhat familiar with the other definition
1 (0.7%)

That they are a contemptibly foolish person, and I am not familiar with another definition
0 (0.0%)

That they are a rude, boorish, unkind person, but I frequently hear the other definition
16 (11.3%)

That they are a rude, boorish, unkind person, but I am somewhat familiar with the other definition
45 (31.9%)

That they are a rude, boorish, unkind person, and I am not familiar with any other definition
73 (51.8%)

I have another definition of this word
3 (2.1%)

I am not familiar with either definition of this word
1 (0.7%)

Comments

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Apparently Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers are bringing 'jerk' and 'punk' back old-school.

Does that mean we get an alternate history 'biopic' of Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin? It'd be AU for the lack of cigarette smoke alone.

[conuly]

Punk has so many mutually contradictory meanings, though....

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Sounds like a 5+1 prompt then. ;)

[senmut]

Given my grandfather's commentary on 'jerk', I have a third image that always comes to mind, because he told me about working as a soda-jerk, or the guy that basically served drinks and sometimes ice cream in old time drug stores, five and dimes, etc.

But yeah, boorish person, with the foolish one a secondary definition (and influenced in my head by The Jerk with Steve Martin)

[gingicat]

I believe that the rude version is short for “jerkoff” or “jerkwad.”

[conuly]

I think perhaps they both are? They seem to be the same word, just with related-but-different meanings, anyway.

[white_hart]

It’s not really a word that’s used in the U.K. but I’ve always understood it to be basically the same as wanker (ie, an insult referring to masturbation) and to have pretty much the same meaning.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

And I think that came from the mixer vibration the soda jerks 'mimicked', desperate to keep the metal tumbler from being flung free spraying milkshake everywhere.

[conuly]

The Online Etymological Dictionary suggests that the primary derivation is probably a shortening of jerkwater, but heavily influenced by jerkwad.

[buttonsbeadslace]

Honestly, until seeing these comments I hadn't realized that "jerk" had that connotation, because when I was growing up everyone treated it as G-rated and not "inappropriate language" at all. But the idea that it comes from "jerk off" makes such obvious sense. I don't know.

[pebblerocker]

I remember the Cat from Red Dwarf complaining that wearing clashing colours would make him look like a jerk.

[conuly]

See, that's not at all an intuitive usage to me.

[thekumquat]

That's the use I'm probably most familiar with - someone who is a bit of a prat, a bit inconsiderate. Like wanker. But I'm aware that it also gets used with more venom, emphasising boorishness, like tosser.

[dark_phoenix54]

I should have said "another definition of this word" as in, the person who makes and serves sodas and malts at the counter.

[conuly]

Well... yeah, I guess :)

[sovay]

If you call somebody "a jerk", what do you mean?

I have used both definitions aloud and in print, although I agree that the current definition is less "idiot" and more "asshole."

[conuly]

Might I ask where you're from and when you started speaking?

[sovay]

Might I ask where you're from and when you started speaking?

I was born and grew up in the Boston area and I started speaking shortly after 1981.

April's definition:

[agoodwinsmith]

They behave badly because they are not trustworthy and will rip you off, spoil your fun, make the baby cry, lie to you, shove the blame for their actions on to anyone not fast enough to get away from them, etc. Basically, they are not a murderer as far as you know, but you really wouldn't be surprised if their actions/inactions caused someone's death.

[archangelbeth]

While I listed myself as "not familiar with any other definition" (jerks are rude, etc.), in context, I might realize what was meant by the other form, even though I would never in a million years come up with that usage myself.

[julian]

There's basically a range of jerkiness, a continuum, if you will.

On the lighter side, a jerk is just someone who's sort of inadequate and mildly foolish, which fits your Wednesday Wars example.

On the more serious side, they're rude & boorish & *mean*.

[fayanora]

"they are a contemptibly foolish person"

This definition makes the title of the Steve Martin movie "The Jerk" make a lot more sense to me now. I never understood before why it was titled that, because the main character was plainly a foolish goofball but he was a nice person, so the title never made sense before. I had no idea there was more than one definition of that word.

[conuly]

It's definitely unintuitive if you're only used to the (I think) newer one.

[gale_storm]

Only one other definition? Oh, okay, now I see that other peeps have stepped in with the soda jerk and masturbatory senses, although someone could doubtless use all three in the same sentence. :-D

[conuly]

Well, the latter is a verb, and the former isn't a term of abuse, so....

[gale_storm]

Okay, so the nouns are:

1. A rapid muscular movement, either voluntary or not.
2. A person referred to in a derogatory manner, usually in their way of communicating or interacting with other people.
3. A person employed at diner or similar spot, usually as 'a soda jerk,' but this seems to have been in 'Happy Days' time.
4. A Jamaican spice mix.
5. Some sort of weightlifting thing that I know next to nothing about, apart from it's existing.

[conuly]

Yes, number two is what I'm getting at. Is it more of a person who is dimwitted or more of a person who is unkind?

[gale_storm]

My take on this is spraddling the conjoinment of the two. It's a throw-away word, spit out in a bit of head-shaking frustration.

[conuly]

Spraddle? That's one I haven't heard yet.

[gale_storm]

All right. then: I'd say that the word befits unkind people more readily than the dimwitted ones.

[purplecat]

Hmm... I think I could use it in either way depending upon context, though I don't think I'd intend a meaning as strong - i.e., I would tend to use it of someone who was both a bit of an idiot and rather rude, boorish etc., or at the least somewhat oblivious to or unconcerned by the effect of their actions on those around. Possibly someone for whom those two characteristics are intertwined.

[conuly]

Interesting.

[zesty_pinto]

I call them a jerk to mean they're a delicious dry rubbed spicy mix.

It's not a term I hear very often anymore, but when I do, it's more often your latter definition.

HOWEVER (and this is why I'm commenting instead of contributing):

The former term receives its distinction as an oft-outdated use of one too many New York cabbie impersonations.

[conuly]

The former term receives its distinction as an oft-outdated use of one too many New York cabbie impersonations.

How so?

[zesty_pinto]

"Hey, outta da way, ya joik!"

^like that sort of expression.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I'd say 'jerk' is the mildest end of the jerk/ dick/ asshole/ douchebag/ shithead continuum.

Racing bent over makes one look like a dork, not a jerk.

[conuly]

I think an asshole is worse than a douchebag, actually.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Well, that could be so.

[conuly]

Which is weird, because assholes are crucial to human survival, and douchebags don't help anybody.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, now you mention it....

English is just generally weird, though. I had an odd moment the other day, realizing that in Siegfried Sassoon's dialect, hark! rhymed with Bach.

This Party Took A Turn For The Douche

[conuly]

Why does YT insist I want to watch everything at 144!?

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I don't know, because I don't know what that means. Here's the embed code I posted: note that I routinely edit out some of the code they provide:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pHH3brmhPyw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The part I cut was:

allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"

Does that answer the question?

[conuly]

It means that YouTube always wants my videos to play at the lowest possible resolution. No matter if they're embedded or not.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Ah. I haven't the faintest.