Jagoff
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Maintaining the theme of civility in this year's political campaigning, "Billionaire Mark Cuban rips Trump", CNN 7/31/2016:
You know what we call a person like that,
you know, the screamers, the yellers, the people who try to intimidate you?
You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh?
A jagoff!
Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?
Selena Zito, "Yinz guys…it's OK to call Trump a jagoff, n'at", The Hill 7/31/2016:
"Jagoff" is part of the Scots Irish dialect that has been here since the 17th century that initially meant to "jag" or poke at someone who is doing something annoying (i.e. "stop jagging me" a phrase still used today). It evolved from a verb into the noun, "jagoff," which essentially means "jerk" (i.e. "did you see the way she cut her off in traffic? What a jagoff!").
The Scottish National Dictionary glosses jag as
I. n. 1. A prickle, a thorn; something which causes a sting. Gen.Sc. Also fig.
2. A prick with a sharp instrument or thorn, a sharp blow, a prod
II. v. To prick or pierce with a sharp instrument
But that dictionary has no entry for jagoff. The Dictionary of American Regional English has several entries, including
- a reference to Emily Fava, "Pittsburghers petition ‘jagoff’ for dictionary addition", The Globe 10/21/2014;
- inclusion in a long list of responses to a question about terms for "A Reckless Person, One Who Takes Foolish Chances";
- inclusion in the list of responses to "Uncomplimentary Words With No Definite Meaning—Just Used When You Want To Show That You Don't Think Much Of A Person: 'Don't Invite Him. He's A ________.'"
- inclusion in the list of responses to "Somebody Who Doesn't Seem To 'Fit In' Or To Get Along Very Well, You Might Say About Him, 'He's Kind Of A ________.'"
- inclusion in the list of responses to "A Very Awkward, Clumsy Person"
- inclusion in the list of responses to "A Dull And Stupid Person"
And there's a web site YaJagoff! devoted to "Calling out the jagoffs™ that make the rest of us look bad", where I learned that Selena Zita works for the only newspaper in Pittsburgh that will print the word jagoff, since apparently the others are run by outsiders who think that the word is obscene.
Here's the relevant section of Mark Cuban's remarks in video form:
Update — prompted by several comments below, I'll come clean and admit that "jagoff" is clearly a local pronunciation variant of an original insult equivalent to "wanker". The voicing of the intervocalic /k/ is a nice example of sporadic lenition of other consonants in the typical flapping/voicing environment for /t/. The business about Scots jag is surely a folk etymology — but one that's motivated or even required by the fact that the true etymology is apparently not salient to most users.
nic said,
August 1, 2016 @ 9:41 pm
And here I'd been assuming that it was a corruption of "jackoff". Learn something new every day.
Boudica said,
August 1, 2016 @ 9:45 pm
We preteens routinely called people jerkoffs in 1970s Philly. I'm dubious that jagoff is not a corruption of jackoff.
Jerry Friedman said,
August 1, 2016 @ 10:23 pm
In that same decade, when I heard it in suburban Cleveland and at summer camp from Cincinnatians, Detroiters, Chicagoans, etc., I certainly thought it came from "jack off", meaning "masturbate". I don't recall hearing it from my cousins from Pittsburgh.
In a list of rock bands in the Illuminatus! trilogy, there's one called the Thorndale Jag Offs. (I swear I had to look up the toponym.) According to Wikipedia, we have a choice of Pennsylvania (in the suburbs of Philadelphia, I think), Texas, and Ontario.
Some readers may want to know that "Cincinnatian" doesn't rhyme with "Galatian".
ryan said,
August 1, 2016 @ 11:07 pm
It's hard to see how jag, meaning to prick, evolves into jagoff. I'm with Boudica in dubiousness. At any rate, it's hard to see the usage being widespread without the widespread belief that we were calling someone a jerk-off.
I extend my dubiousness to the putative example from The Hill. That's make-believe written by someone who doesn't use the term. I have never, ever heard jagoff applied to a female, another reason why I believe it to mean jerk-off.
Jon said,
August 2, 2016 @ 2:19 am
Jag is also commonly used in Scotland (at least in the part that I know, west lowlands) for a medical injection.
Bob Ladd said,
August 2, 2016 @ 3:08 am
Jon got there first, but I was also going to note that medical injections are called "jags" in Scotland (east as well as west). For a North American used to calling them "shots", this is especially confusing, because in England they're called "jabs", so that's the term used in UK-wide medical advice, and therefore anyone in Scotland is exposed to both forms. For a North American phonologist first encountering this variation, the resulting temptation to speculate about the feature [grave] can be overwhelming.
Sawney said,
August 2, 2016 @ 3:54 am
"The Jags" is also the nickname of the mighty Partick Thistle,
(a thistle being 'jaggie') – a Glaswegian football/soccer team unfortunately associated with inconsistency and heroic failure (Billy Connolly used to think the full name of the team was Partick Thistle Nil).
JPL said,
August 2, 2016 @ 4:53 am
'Jagoff', 'jerkoff', 'jerk', 'prick', 'dick' ('asshole' is the odd man out): Is this the result of the attempt to capture in an ideophonic sort of way a typically male complex pattern of obnoxious self- regarding behaviour? While I think it would be productive to call Trump a "wanker", it is probably more appropriate to call him a schmuck, especially after his behaviour with rel. to the parents of the Muslim soldier who lost their son. (I feel sorry for his kids, except for Donald Jr., who reminds me of Uday to dad's Qaddafi.) (I confess that I'm not proud of this comment. However, "Partick Thistle Nil" made me LOL.)
Robert Davis said,
August 2, 2016 @ 5:14 am
Language Log to the rescue. Being from Silicon Valley, it is not part of my vocabulary, but I figured I would not want to be know as a jag off, whatever it meant.
Robert said,
August 2, 2016 @ 6:06 am
In the book "How to Talk American" by Jim Crotty, there is an entry for "jag-off" (spelled exactly that way) in the section on Pittsburgh. A jag-off is defined there as a jerk.
KeithB said,
August 2, 2016 @ 8:23 am
Trump is also a JAQ-off which is internet speak for "just asking questions".
languagehat said,
August 2, 2016 @ 8:30 am
I'm dubious that jagoff is not a corruption of jackoff.
Of course it's a corruption (or, better, alternate spelling) of jackoff, and I'm surprised that Mark doesn't come out and say so. Why is the Log allowing pseudo-etymological nonsense to stand uncorrected?
[(myl) I agree — it's clearly a local pronunciation variant of an original insult equivalent to "wanker". The voicing of the intervocalic /k/ is a nice example of sporadic lenition of other consonants in the typical flapping/voicing environment for /t/.]
Martha said,
August 2, 2016 @ 9:27 am
"Of course it's a corruption (or, better, alternate spelling) of jackoff, "
Is "jagoff" an alternate spelling of "jack off," though? At least the way I've heard them used, "jag-off" and "jerk-off" are nouns, and "jack off" and "jerk off" are verbs. "Jag-off" and "jack off" can't be used interchangeably.
But to be honest, these aren't people's words of choice in situations I've been in, so I haven't heard them in use as much as I could. (It appears from the comments here that it's an east-of-the-Mississippi thing, and I'm from the west coast.)
languagehat said,
August 2, 2016 @ 10:53 am
At least the way I've heard them used, "jag-off" and "jerk-off" are nouns, and "jack off" and "jerk off" are verbs.
No, "jackoff" is a noun and a frequent insult in the Northeast (at least).
Brian K said,
August 2, 2016 @ 11:53 am
"The business about Scots jag is surely a folk etymology — but one that's motivated or even required by the fact that the true etymology is apparently not salient to most users."
How is publishing a false folk etymology ever "required"? I do not understand this final point except as an attempt to justify material that is clearly misleading.
[(myl) Well, if someone wants to claim that xy is not from XY, they're pretty well required to offer some alternative story about its derivation, say that it's really from χψ…]
Mike N said,
August 2, 2016 @ 12:09 pm
I wouldn't know etymology if it slapped me in the head, but I do know that in the school yards of Chicago in the 60's a jagoff was someone that yanked on their little buddy for perverted fun. It was the most derogatory thing you could call a pre-pubescent boy and it's use was typically followed by flying fists. I would love to see this word gain more attention and use. It's a wonderful insult and so applicable to people like DJT. Yeah Mark Cuban for making the call even thought the Pittsburgh version seems to have less bite than ours in Chicago.
Mike N said,
August 2, 2016 @ 12:13 pm
Oh wait I forgot the best part. When calling out a person for being a jagoff, the appropriate body language is to simultaneously grab your package, thrust your hips in his direction, and bite your lower lip while making a snarling face. Gotta love it! haha
wtsparrow said,
August 2, 2016 @ 1:49 pm
I'm surprised to learn that jagoff, rather than jerkoff or jackoff, is used anywhere outside Chicago. In any case, Mike N nails it perfectly if my memory of the 60s is correct.
Also, in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which was filmed somewhere far from Chicago although it was supposed to take place there, someone is called a jagoff in a heavy-handed effort to add some local color. There's also a reference to shopping at "the Jewel's," a Chicagoism for the name of the local food chain, another heavy-handed bit of local color.
languagehat said,
August 2, 2016 @ 1:56 pm
Why are those "heavy-handed bits of local color" as opposed to just plain local color?
bks said,
August 2, 2016 @ 5:19 pm
Don't talk about his hands!
Smilin' Joe said,
August 2, 2016 @ 8:07 pm
Most definitely a favorite word in 1960's chicago… but at good southside catholic schools there was absolutley NO doubt as to it's meaning. Unlike the more delicate package squeeze and lip bite described above, the normal southside use of the term was most commonly accompanied by a gesture that was an unmistakable open fisted clear cut masturbatory motion. When I left (escaped?) my beloved southside to matriculate in East Lansing, I found the word and gesture was used throughout Michigan, and seemingly most of the Great Lakes.
Smilin' Joe said,
August 2, 2016 @ 8:12 pm
..and for all of you cunning linguists, may I share:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2015/01/13/when-you-call-someone-a-jagoff-what-exactly-are-you-trying-to-say
David Marjanović said,
August 3, 2016 @ 4:14 am
That would be Uday to dad's Saddam, or perhaps Sayfu-'l-Islam to dad's Gaddafi (Qadhafi).
JPL said,
August 3, 2016 @ 6:38 pm
David Marjanovic:
D'oh! Right you are! I mixed them up in making a quick comment. I had Saif in mind, but Uday and Saddam would have done just as well. What is it about the sons of dictators?
tangent said,
August 3, 2016 @ 11:53 pm
Another one, Charles Taylor's son, a horrifying story not devoid of tragedy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_McArther_Emmanuel