# The Origins of 'Jeep' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 18, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537 "2003-01-18T21:32:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nist-Uk-TAS-1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d78d45/32.png) [@Nist-Uk-TAS-1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nist-Uk-TAS-1982)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/1 "2003-01-18T21:32:14Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000310.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000310.html) I was always under the impression, probably from the History Channel, that Jeep was an acronym for ‘Just Enough Essential Parts’ referring to the relatively limited number of parts used in building one as to make it easier in which it could be fixed out and about on the field. Hope this helps Ledi ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/2 "2003-01-19T03:21:44Z")
If you got that from the History Channel, turn off your tv! Cecil has it right. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/3 "2003-01-19T21:30:42Z")
The following is true for all everyday purposes: Whenever you hear someone explain the origin of a word as an acronym - turn the page, change the channel, or drag the person over to an etymological dictionary or website. Nitpickers can now have their fun with the exceptions, but first see [this Cecil classic](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_268b.html). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/4 "2003-01-20T20:40:50Z")
That’s not to say, of course, that the “Just Enough Essential Parts” wasn’t bandied about after the fact, as a joke. Likewise, you might also hear things like “Fix Or Repair Daily” as the “real meaning” of Ford, but you can bet that’s _not_ the original origin of the name. ---
**Author:** ![Nist-Uk-TAS-1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d78d45/32.png) [@Nist-Uk-TAS-1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nist-Uk-TAS-1982)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/5 "2003-01-20T22:41:08Z")
When the acronym reflects a negative aspect of a product then yes i’d go with it not being true, but ‘Just Enough Essential Parts’ is quite clever and makes sense because you don’t want something too complex that it can’t be fixed in the field. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/6 "2003-01-21T03:47:01Z")
> [@](#): > > but ‘Just Enough Essential Parts’ is quite clever and makes sense because you don’t want something too complex that it can’t be fixed in the field. It’s clever, but it’s about 50 year too late. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/7 "2003-01-22T01:24:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nist-Uk-TAS-1982 \* > \*\*When the acronym reflects a negative aspect of a product then yes i’d go with it not being true, but ‘Just Enough Essential Parts’ is quite clever and makes sense because you don’t want something too complex that it can’t be fixed in the field. \*\* You’re relying on the U.S. government to come up with a clever acronym with which to name a military-issue product? Real life doesn’t work this way. In real life, people make up clever stories after the fact as a way of amusing one another. The cleverest stories are repeated and passed around so often that some people start believing that they are true. This almost never is the case, however, and the odds are billions to one against it being true in this particular case. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/8 "2003-01-22T04:58:38Z")
Coincidentally, in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157976) another phony after-the-fact acronym explanation is given and then is mightly abused. Similar advice is given on credibility by a different cast of charactors. Come, grasshopper, we will learn together. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/9 "2003-01-23T08:13:18Z")
My question: Cecil says that _Eugene the Jeep_ was the source of the name into popular culture, as opposed to strictly military circles. Okay, but where did the creator of Eugene get the name? Was he military/ex-military? Why did he call his “dog” a jeep? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/10 "2003-01-23T15:37:59Z")
Eugene the Jeep made his first appearance in “Thimble Theater” in 1936, and Segar and Sagendorf checked several dictionaries at the time to establish that the word “Jeep” did not exist in any language. Any way, a Jeep is not a dog. A Jeep is a chimera of living cells from the fourth dimension and the African Hooey Hound. ---
**Author:** ![regnad\_kcin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@regnad\_kcin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regnad_kcin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/11 "2003-01-24T16:35:51Z")
Well, heres one for ya – Does “Wiffle Ball” come from Bernice, the African wiffle hen, Eugene’s predecessor and accomplice in the bankruptcy of Dice Island? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/12 "2003-01-24T18:33:41Z")
I can’t disprove that, but the word “whiffle” had a long history as an onomotopoeic word, so it very well may be coincidence: from the OED online: > [@](#): > > ``` > 1. Something light or insignificant; a trifle. > > ``` > > 1680 H. MORE Apocal. Apoc. 253 Such a childish trifle or sleight whiffle. > > ``` > 2. An act of whiffling; a slight blast of air; a veering round. > > ``` > > 1842 in Gosse Birds Jamaica (1847) 366 At first two or three whiffles make darkened tracks on the glassy waters. 1870 L. M. ALCOTT Good Wives xxi, Amy keeps me pointing due west most of the time, with only an occasional whiffle round to the south. 1909 BEGBIE Cage x, The whiffle in the air grew more distinct. > > 1. 1931 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 17 Nov. 573/2 Whiffle. For game apparatus of the type having ball receiving and discharging mechanism.] The first mention of the game and ball is after Bernice was introduced in Thimble Theater, so there may be some connection. But other sites talk about the invention of “wiffle ball” in 1953, and I haven’t been able to come up with anything that talks about the 1930s game or any citations before the 1950s. Time for the experts to get involved on this. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/13 "2003-01-26T05:46:31Z")
Didn’t answer my question. The article states that “jeep” was in use in military circles, as far back as World War I. My question was where did Segar and Sagendorf come up with the word? Okay, they checked a dictionary to make sure it wasn’t real, but that doesn’t answer where they got it? Did they just make it up and it’s a coincidence that the military used that same word? Or did they get it from the military, and just verify it wasn’t a real word before using it? As for the dog comment, notice the quote marks. The column describes Eugene as “a doglike critter”. That was the meaning of my use of the word, and hence the quotes. ---
**Author:** ![kirwar4face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5fc32e/32.png) [@kirwar4face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirwar4face)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/14 "2003-01-26T14:24:43Z")
Eugene was called a jeep because he went “Jeep jeep!” I doubt that Elzie Segar consulted a dictionary before naming the critter. Bud Sagendorf, as far as I know, had nothing to do with it; he didn’t take over the strip until many years later. Maybe, as JWK suggests, he checked old dictionaries later when the origin of “jeep” came into question; I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/15 "2003-01-26T16:11:26Z")
Bud Sagendorf was Segar’s assistant from 1930 on, and he says that “Jeep” was a nonsense word, and that he and Segar checked several dictionaries in several languages to verify that it wasn’t real. Other things to note: Cecil says only that “by one account”, “Jeep” goes back to WW1. My biographical information on Segar is scant, but there seems to be no room in his career for him to have served in WW1. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origins-of-jeep/149537/16 "2003-01-26T16:35:29Z")
**kirwar4face**. It’s fine to say that the character got his name from his cry, but then you have to ask “where did Segar come up with that _cry_?” _THe Random House Dictionary of Historic American Slang_ theorizes that it **possibly** was a version of the cartoon cry of " '_cheep!_ , a frequent representation in cartoons of the cry of small birds." Cecil, in his original column, said > [@](#): > > By one account, the name jeep originally was used by motor pool mechanics in World War I to refer to any new vehicle received for testing. It was also applied derisively to the more hapless recruits. Be that as it may, the term was little known outside the military… I don’t think there are any quotes out there which antedate the 1936 appearance of _jeep_. There are certainly military usages as early as 1938 which indicate the word was used in the military to describe a “recruit or basic trainee.” It also appears in Fitzgerald’s _Notebooks_ in 1939, indicating “Slang(collegiate). A Jeep…Orchid Consumer.” This is a reference to Eugene.