# The word "jerk" and semantic drift **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889 "2018-01-05T03:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/21 "2018-01-05T15:53:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > While I’ve always assumed (and seem to be correct) that the term soda jerk comes from pulling the soda tap, I never imagined it to be a literal spasmodic motion. Poetic license people! Soda jerk sounds more colorful than soda puller or soda pull. Ok, I did literally write “jerking motion” in a previous post, but I wasn’t visualizing spasmodic twitching or anything like that. You know, like when your head jerks back, it’s one snap back. I think of that as one quick pull back on the tap as being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/22 "2018-01-05T15:53:48Z")
Newspaper article from 1942: Ball of Fire Last Movie Using the Term ‘Jerk’ The Hays office has come up with a ruling that the familiar American slang expression ‘Jerk’ is immoral, or at least suggestive. Anyway, it can’t be made a part of any motion picture title. Hit squarely in the solar plexus was 20th Century-Fox, which has just completed a film co-starring Henry Fonda and Don Ameche titled “The Magnificent Jerk” The picture is being made ready for release within a few weeks. All advertising material has been printed under that name. Vigorous rotest on the part of Darryl Zanuck, general manager of 20th Century-Fox was to no avail. “The Magnificent Jerk” will now become “The Magnificent Stupe” and $15,000 worth of smart accessories must be tossed in the discard. The studio called attention to a recent movie “Ball of Fire,” which was allowed to used an accompanying catch line in all its ads which read: “I love him because he doesn’t know how to kiss—the jerk.” Discrimination, they hinted. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/23 "2018-01-05T16:44:28Z")
I first heard “jerk” used in the early- to mid-70s, when I was a teen. It wasn’t a word that we used in west Texas, but one kid from another area would use it, and it definitely meant something like the “asshole” definition. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/24 "2018-01-05T17:29:43Z")
As to the OP–Yes, the meaning over the last 60+ years has changed from \* loser, buffoon, etc. \* to “purposefully contemptible,” and thus “asshole.” As to the etymology, the info above was correct to say in was derived from or influence by the “jerkwater” town of the 1800’s and the “jerk off” and "jerking off=masturbate) of the 1800s also. While “soda jerk” and “soda jerking” go back to the 1880s, I don’t thnk that had much influence on either slang meaning we’re dealing with. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/25 "2018-01-07T01:34:14Z")
Believe it or not, but I read somewhere that the job of soda jerk was highly coveted, at least compared to other jobs in the same orbit, as it were. The best ones would go about their work with flourish and panache, not unlike those bartenders who juggle the merchandise and glassware as they mix the drinks. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/26 "2018-01-07T02:23:56Z")
There’s a reason why our own Prime Directive is not, " Don’t be an asshole. " Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/27 "2018-01-07T02:45:03Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > There’s a reason why our own Prime Directive is not, " Don’t be an asshole. " But that is exactly what our prime directive means, just said in more PG language. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/28 "2018-01-07T10:29:13Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Over here the word is hardly ever used a pejorative description. The nearest equivalent I can think of would be “_wanker_” (_One who masturbates because he can’t get a girlfriend_). We have adopted a great many merkinisms but this is not one that has caught on. Yes, :a sudden spasmodic motion", " from the pulling motion" In the 1990’s, “wanker” was ruder in the USA than it was in Aus. In Aus, it just meant someone who was a bit of a jerk, and the word was comfortably used by all classes in any relevant situation. Both my brother and my sister were caught out refering to masturbation in the USA, one while talking to professionals, the other while talking to tradesmen, and realising to late that the person they were talking to thought the subject was inapproprate and out of place. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/29 "2018-01-07T12:27:51Z")
Melbourne, that’s interesting. I think “wanker” is rarely used in the US — the Americans that have heard it associate it with Britain and Australia. IMHo, it’s not that it’s a harsher insult here in the US, but rather that its associations with the actual act of masturbation are more vivid and direct for Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/30 "2018-01-07T12:57:52Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Yes, :a sudden spasmodic motion", " from the pulling motion" > > In the 1990’s, “wanker” was ruder in the USA than it was in Aus. In Aus, it just meant someone who was a bit of a jerk, and the word was comfortably used by all classes in any relevant situation. Both my brother and my sister were caught out refering to masturbation in the USA, one while talking to professionals, the other while talking to tradesmen, and realising to late that the person they were talking to thought the subject was inapproprate and out of place. On the other hand, the literal equivalent – “jerkoff” – was considered less rude up until some time in the 90s because people just used it without thinking about the implications too much. But now that masturbation is no longer taboo, it’s had the paradoxical effect of not being able to use the word “jerkoff” without thinking about jerking off. I think using “wanker” these days in America would be considered slightly less rude than “jerkoff”. (I’m not sure if they mean _exactly_ the same thing, but “jerkoff” does mean “self-indulgent” at least, if not “ineffectual”.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/31 "2018-01-07T15:16:24Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > On the other hand, the literal equivalent – “jerkoff” – was considered less rude up until some time in the 90s because people just used it without thinking about the implications too much. I always thought of that word as “masturbator,” but I grew up in the 80s. “Jagoff” is a much better word, anyway. (Which apparently has a separate etymology that doesn’t have to do with masturbating.) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/32 "2018-01-07T17:25:38Z")
I think we can see the picture of a crowded soda fountain and one guy running around making the stuff, 130 years ago with machinery we aren’t familiar with anymore, and was not as precisely engineered as we are accustomed to. Sounds like “jerk” to me. Doesn’t sound “smooth” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/33 "2018-01-08T03:29:41Z")
I grew up in the 1960’s, and recall “jerk” as either a moron who was annoying, irritatingly obnoxious (think Jerry Lewis movies); or alternatively, someone smart enough, but deliberately being nasty (i.e. asshole). IIRC, Steve Martin exemplifies the first type - “The Jerk” came out 1979 and he played a stupid person who got on everyone’s nerves. Whether annoyingly hyper-eager (“The new phonebook’s here! The new phonebook’s here!!”) or just plain stupid and know-it-all (“I can fix those shocks for you…”) he exemplified a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/34 "2018-01-08T15:24:04Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ok, I did literally write “jerking motion” in a previous post, but I wasn’t visualizing spasmodic twitching or anything like that. You know, like when your head jerks back, it’s one snap back. I think of that as one quick pull back on the tap as being a jerk. Soda taps are like beer taps in that they don’t have a smooth pull, but rather have a resistance at the first you have to overcome to pull down. They spring return to position when released. So the motion to use them is a bit sharp rather than gentle and smooth. Thus, a _jerk_. It’s not twitching or yanking back and forth repeatedly, just _one_ jerk. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/35 "2018-01-08T15:37:24Z")
I just finished reading Steve Martin’s _Born Standing Up_ for the second time, and, for what it’s worth, here’s how he described coming up with the title: “We were still mulling over titles for the movie. One day I said to Carl [Reiner], ‘It needs to be something short, yet have the feeling of an epic tale. Like Dostoyevsky’s _The Idiot_, but not that. Like _The Jerk_.’ The title, after a few more days of analyzing, stuck.” Not entirely relevant to the semantic drift of the word, but interesting nonetheless! ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/36 "2018-01-08T15:41:03Z")
I always heard that it refers to a person made feeble minded by excessive masturbation. To which I say: “Define ‘excessive’.”. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_horsepower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@mr\_horsepower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_horsepower)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889/37 "2018-01-08T17:38:30Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Over here the word is hardly ever used a pejorative description. The nearest equivalent I can think of would be “_wanker_” (_One who masturbates because he can’t get a girlfriend_). We have adopted a great many merkinisms but this is not one that has caught on. do they have a different name for someone that masturbates and has a girlfriend/wife? or that masturbates with their girlfriend/wife? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-jerk-and-semantic-drift/805889.md?page=1)