jimmying

[A. Maberry]

I've certainly heard "jimmy a lock" meaning to open a locked door or
window. To me, it normally means to circumvent a locking device not
necessarily to "pick a lock"--"jimmying" seems a lot less professional
than lock picking.

Allen
maberry at u.washington.edu


On Tue, 18 Jan 2000, Grant Barrett wrote:

> On Thursday, January 18, 2001, Joseph McCollum <prez234 at JUNO.COM> wrote:
>
> >The only context in which I've heard it has been  "to jimmy a lock,"
> >meaning "to pick a lock."  I doubt it would have anything to do with GMC,
> >although I understand a device
> >that auto mechanics and car thieves use to open locked car
> >doors is
> >called a "Slim Jim."
> >
>
> Wait, doesn't one "jimmy a door" (or window) in order to circumvent the lock by
> force rather than "jimmy the lock" itself?
>