# Why are there so many captains named "Jack"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350 "2016-06-14T14:47:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/21 "2016-06-14T17:24:38Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [Nope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Jack_(Billy_Joel_song)). > > Besides which, the lyric _"Just a little push and you’ll be smilin’ "_ definitely seems more appropriate for heroin than for booze. > > I don’t know of any reason to associate Billy Joel’s “Captain Jack” with Jack Daniel’s whiskey, even if another explanation of the name than the one Joel himself gave were needed. Jack Daniel AFAIK was never known as “Captain Jack”, and AFAIK the whiskey’s never called that either. Interesting. I must admit that I’d never really paid attention to the lyrics as I’ve only heard the miserable song once or twice. Apologies for the false assumption and spreading of ignorance. Are those the real lyrics Chimera posted? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/22 "2016-06-14T17:37:05Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Interesting. I must admit that I’d never really paid attention to the lyrics as I’ve only heard the miserable song once or twice. Apologies for the false assumption and spreading of ignorance. Are those the real lyrics Chimera posted? Yep. That’s the second verse. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/23 "2016-06-14T17:44:28Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Yep. That’s the second verse. “Ah, but still your finger’s gonna pick your nose” :dubious: I’m a big fan of Billy though I’ve always avoided this song because it’s tedious and just unpleasant sounding. Reading the lyrics has done nothing to make me change my mind(although I do appreciate knowing the meaning behind it). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/24 "2016-06-14T18:06:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > \*But my “Huh?” was actually a reaction to the claim that Steubing was not listed, when clearly he was. Or is there something else I’m missing here? 😕 Just correcting the spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/25 "2016-06-15T05:12:23Z")
Always had a fondness for [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQgV2YwUX2w)Captain Jack. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/26 "2016-06-15T05:52:50Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Captain Jack Sparrow - Pirates of the Caribbean > Captain Jack Harkness - Doctor Who / Torchwood > Captain Jack Aubrey - Master & Commander > Captain John “Calico Jack” Rackham - Black Sails / real life > Captain Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall - Outlander > > and of course > Captain Jack Will Get You High Tonight - Billy Joel song Also Edgar Buchanan’s title character in the “Captain Jack” episode of _Leave It to Beaver_. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/27 "2016-06-15T12:39:21Z")
> [@Elemenopy](#): > > Always had a fondness for [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQgV2YwUX2w)Captain Jack. 🙂 My favourite Captain Jack is a genuine historical figure: aka Kintpuash, chieftain of the Modoc tribe in California in their brief war against the US. Seemingly, a less-than-terrifying opponent: Sitting Bull he wasn’t, poor sod. > **[Modoc War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modoc_War)** > > The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign (also known as the Lava Beds War), was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873. Eadweard Muybridge photographed the early part of the US Army's campaign. > Kintpuash, also known as Captain Jack, led 52 warriors in a band of more than 150 Modoc people who left the Klamath Reservation. Occupying defensive positions throughout the lava beds south of T... ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/28 "2016-06-15T18:20:53Z")
missed one: ETA: D’oh, OK, **Elemenopy** beat me to it. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/29 "2016-06-15T18:36:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The way I heard it, “Hooray for Captain Spaulding!” was actually a tribute to a doctor who kept the Hollywood crowd supplied with drugs in the '20s and '30s! :dubious: Captain Spaulding was a character in the 1928 Broadway play _Animal Crackers_, written by chauvinist New Yorkers George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, who hated Hollywood. John was the default name for an Englishman, John Bull being their Uncle Sam. Any use of John or Jack meant England and all its wonderful character, especially since its self-image was of the archetypal sea-power. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350/30 "2016-06-15T19:57:13Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think “Jack” is also a common placeholder name in British culture (Jack the Ripper, Spring Heeled Jack), and a lot of these captains are British. A “Jack Tar” was also an olde tymy slang term for a sailor in the Royal Navy. And if you read Neil Gaiman’s _The Graveyard Book_ ( a fantastical take on Kipling’s _Jungle Books_ ) we run across a mysterious group known as the Jacks of All Trades, all of them famous Jacks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-many-captains-named-jack/757350.md?page=1)