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Old 11-27-2009, 09:19 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 32,871,363 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes View Post
Jagoff is someone who jags (jokes) around.
But that doesn't sound like it would have the same negative connotations, and conversely I've often seen "jagoff" used when the person in question wasn't joking around, just being a jerk or idiot.

So while it may well be true it had that origin (jagoff is a person who jags other people), it seems to me it has morphed into a synonym of jerkoff/jackoff at this point.

Indeed, note that to "jerk someone around" seems to have roughly the same meaning as to "jag someone around". But jerkoff is definitely treated as synonymous with jackoff these days. And for that matter, to jack someone else isn't the same thing as jacking off, so I am thinking the -off part can do a lot to transform the meaning of a phrase.
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Old 11-27-2009, 10:15 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,636,560 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianTH View Post
But that doesn't sound like it would have the same negative connotations, and conversely I've often seen "jagoff" used when the person in question wasn't joking around, just being a jerk or idiot.
I offered two definitions. The most negative one means prick. That's the meaning that's associated with jackoff. The other one means 'not to be taken seriously.' My using 'jokes' didn't help define that meaning. It's from someone jagging around (which comes from poking fun, which comes from jagger bushes which have thorns that poke). It means don't take him seriously and/or he's unreliable. If you look up the word jag it actually has a real dictionary definition with the slang being someone who is intoxicated or a period of uncontrollable activity. It very well may have become somewhat of a synonym to jackoff, but that doesn't take away the origin of the word or the fact that many people use the word in the original context. I often see people call someone a jagoff with a roll of their eyes after a jagoff makes a fool of himself or became useless for a task at hand. Not a jerk, just useless.
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Old 11-28-2009, 06:29 PM
 
Location: Hooterville PA
712 posts, read 1,960,916 times
Reputation: 304
You guys - all take this too seriously.
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Old 11-28-2009, 09:03 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,540,264 times
Reputation: 5162
Should say yinz guys.
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Old 11-28-2009, 09:25 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,636,560 times
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Pittsburghers who consider themselves above Pittsburghese have replaced yinz guys with you guys. They must have been sick the day you-is-singular-AND-plural was taught.
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Old 11-29-2009, 03:14 AM
 
Location: Morgantown, WV
1,000 posts, read 2,339,732 times
Reputation: 999
....as an English teacher, I'm going to weigh in my two cents and say that the Pittsburghese thing is pretty wretched, especially "yinz" and "jagoff". But I'm a hypocrite and like the southern "y'all" just fine, so pay no attention to me. The people that truly speak Pittsburghese to its fullest almost remind me a little bit of a countrified NYC/Jersey type of accent, I'm wondering if that's actually what it branched off of from a linguistics perspective.
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Old 11-29-2009, 07:01 AM
 
Location: Yeah
3,164 posts, read 6,671,863 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TelecasterBlues View Post
....as an English teacher, I'm going to weigh in my two cents and say that the Pittsburghese thing is pretty wretched,

It is, it's very backwoods sounding.
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Old 11-29-2009, 07:25 AM
 
Location: somewhere near Pittsburgh, PA
1,437 posts, read 3,760,246 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TelecasterBlues View Post
....as an English teacher, I'm going to weigh in my two cents and say that the Pittsburghese thing is pretty wretched, especially "yinz" and "jagoff". But I'm a hypocrite and like the southern "y'all" just fine, so pay no attention to me. The people that truly speak Pittsburghese to its fullest almost remind me a little bit of a countrified NYC/Jersey type of accent, I'm wondering if that's actually what it branched off of from a linguistics perspective.
What is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me is when people don't use "to be", such as "the car needs washed" or "the grass needs mowed". EVERYONE here says this. Even some of the most educated people in the area still say this, even if they don't normally sound Yinzer-like. What does an English teacher have to say about this?
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Old 11-29-2009, 07:53 AM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
12,529 posts, read 17,443,200 times
Reputation: 10629
Certain terms of Pittsburghese: gum band; rode me in; slippy; redd up; I don't mind. But when I hear Yinz, I seen, and he don't, drives me nuts. It shows how lazy or stupid that person is.
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Old 11-29-2009, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,209,612 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mugatu View Post
What is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me is when people don't use "to be", such as "the car needs washed" or "the grass needs mowed". EVERYONE here says this. Even some of the most educated people in the area still say this, even if they don't normally sound Yinzer-like. What does an English teacher have to say about this?
I'm no English teacher, but our teachers in school did not ever comment on this practice. They probably did it themselves and didn't think it was wrong. They were probably educated themselves by people from the area who didn't think it was wrong. OTOH, they did practically threaten to wash our mouths out with soap if we said "yinz".
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