jackwagon

[Jonathan Lighter]

It also may be that the writer of the commercial was trolling
UrbanDictionary.com for a catchy new insult and hit upon "jackwagon."  Now,
thanks to TV and YouTube, it belongs to the ages.

The first "-wad" compound I encountered was "fuckwad," reported by
an undergraduate in 1974. I did not encounter it again in speech or print
till the mid '80s. (Now: over 40,000 RGs.)

In 1989 came "dickwad," in 1990 "jerkwad," in 2000 "suckwad."  The dates are
earliest known attestations, of course.  (Also popular is "dickweed.")

Several hundred RGs on "dickwagon," "fuckwagon," "suckwagon," and
"jerkwagon," all antedating the June, 2010, Geico use of "jackwagon."

Wilson's post proves what I said about one's sense of language.  "Fuckwad"
almost demands a sexual interpretation of "wad."  Almost.

JL

On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 1:29 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: jackwagon
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  Sorry, not nonce. Found "jackwagon" as a real reference (like a
> mini-truck, or something like that--I suppose, like a jack-ass on
> wheels) in Jane's (1974) and several other references in GB. But I doubt
> any of those are relevant here.
>
> VS-)
>
> On 7/29/2010 1:18 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> > On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 7:49 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> > <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>  wrote:
> >> [J]ackwad" may or may not be disgusting, depending on your sense of
> language.
> > Does this _wad_ have anything to do with the one in "shoot one's
> > _wad_"? And does that _wad_ have anything to do with "Johnny Wadd,"
> > the cinematic character immortalized by the late, great John Holmes?
> >
> > I had to have the pun explained to me, since _wad_, IME, has no
> > obscene connotations in BE. Before I heard the explanation, my
> > assumption had been that "shoot" and "wad" had to do with the wadding
> > used in loading muskets.
> >
> > Hence, according to my sense of language, both "jackwagon" and
> > "jackwad" are nonsense nonce forms. After hearing the "jack off"
> > portion of Robert's lecture, I must have slept through the part
> > wherein he expostulated upon "jack *wad.*
> >
> > OT: Does the voiceover-guy for that movie *really* say, "Dinner For
> > *[s]mucks*," instead of "... [S]mucks"?
> >
> > -Wilson
> > –––
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > –Mark Twain
> >
>
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