Jack in the box

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meantolearn

#150126 Fri, 21 Oct 05 07:52 AM

1. An American fast food store is so called. Does anyone know why?

2. Why jack-in-the-box? Why not john-in-the-box or david-in-the-box...etc?

Thanks,

meantolearn

Joined on Thu, Feb 24 2005

Regular Member (704)

Savvysavz

#150173 Fri, 21 Oct 05 10:49 AM

Hi Meantolearn,

Check this out:

[link]

Savvysavz

Joined on Tue, Aug 23 2005

French in no man's land

Regular Member (549)

Hell! There are no rules here! We're trying to accomplish something! (Thomas Edison)

meantolearn

#150378 Fri, 21 Oct 05 11:29 PM

I still wonder why the toy or clown is so called "jack"? Why not david, john, paul...etc. ?

Thanks for the reply.

meantolearn

MrPedantic

#150393 Sat, 22 Oct 05 12:28 AM

It's always jack, Jack:

Jack-a-dreams, Jack-a-Lent, Jack-a-napes, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, Jack Ketch, Jack-pudding, Jack Tar, Jack Sauce, Jumping Jack, Union Jack, Jack Sprat, Jack o' Lantern, Jumping Jack Flash, Jack Frost, Jack i' th' Green, every man Jack of them, Jack-slave, Jack Straw, Jack-in-office, Jack of all trades, Jack and Jill, Jack the Giant Killer, Jack of Diamonds, Little Jack Horner, boot jack, bottle jack, jack boot, black jack, jackdaw, jack-ass, Jack the Ripper...

MrPedantic

Joined on Wed, Oct 13 2004

Veteran Member (12,168)

...opella forensis / adducit febris...

meantolearn

#150436 Sat, 22 Oct 05 03:01 AM

Hi, MrP.

I'm not sure you answered my question. I was asking why the small item being popped out was so called "jack" rather than other given names such as john, david, paul...etc. ?

You wrote, "It's always jack, Jack."

What about "GI Joe"? You don't say "GI Jack", do you?

What about "Uncle Sam"? You don't say "Uncle Jack", do you?

What about "Lazy Susan"? You don't say "Lazy Jack", do you?

meantolearn

Clive

#150453 Sat, 22 Oct 05 05:03 AM

Hi,

"Jack' is certainly a long-standing and traditional way of referring to the common man. We still see it today on such terms as lumberjack, steeplejack, every man-jack in the navy. It doesn't surprise me that it's 'Jack in the Box' rather than 'Clive in the Box'. Such things come about for traditional and/or historical reasons.

There's also a connection to 'knave', in the sense of the common man with a more roguish character. That's why we can speak, in cards, of either the Jack of Diamonds or the Knave of Diamonds.

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (22,565)

El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

MrPedantic

#150528 Sat, 22 Oct 05 12:39 PM

Yes; "jack" has that faintly pejorative sense.

"Jack" for "something that jumps up" occurs both in the old slang term for penis (cf. "jack off") and the word for the small part in a harpsichord that holds the plectrum. Shakespeare combines the two thoughts in sonnet 128:

How oft when thou (my music) music play'st,
Upon that blessèd wood whose motion sounds
With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st,
The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,
Do I envy those Jacks that nimble leap,
To kiss the tender inward of thy hand...

Etymonline gives this suggestion for "jack in the box":

jack-in-the-box

1570, originally a name for a sharp or cheat, "who deceived tradesmen by substituting empty boxes for others full of money" [Robert Nares, "A Glossary of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions," London, 1905]. As a type of toy, it is attested from 1702.

So again, "jack" would be slightly pejorative.

MrP

MrPedantic