• jackanapes •
Printable Version Pronunciation: jæ-kę-nayps • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A domesticated ape or monkey. 2. A knave, rogue, blackguard, in other words, an annoyingly impudent (young) person.
Notes: Given the rich variety of insults the English language presents us with, it is a shame that our popular music and media are more and more cluttered with common four-letter vulgarities. Well, here is a tried and true substitute for many of them, a word deserving a more prominent position among English jibes. Jackanapes are always up to no-good jackanapery when they behave jackanapishly. The plural of this noun is no bother: jackanapes, too.
In Play: Please help Dr. Goodword and alphaDictionary stamp out the simple-minded four-letter insults we are adrift in by using today's word like this: "Jack is the jackanapes who busted our jack-o'-lantern last Halloween." As a bonus, this word is very effective at turning anger into laughter. We all hope no jackanapes visit your neighborhood on Halloween night.
Word History: Today's Good word came from a derisive nickname for William de la Pole, the first Duke of Suffolk (murdered in 1450). He was called "Jack Napes" because a block and chain similar to those used to restrain trained monkeys of the time were on his coat of arms. Jack in those days was a slang term for "man", similar to guy or dude today. We still see it in "jack-in-the-box", "every man Jack of them", and a particular favorite of October, jack-o'-lantern. The origin of the A and N are still in dispute. The A probably came by analogy with phrases like jack-o-'lantern and will-o'-the-wisp since the word was spoken long before it was written. But this reduction must precede a consonant, not a vowel, so the N could have been added fortuitously in response to that demand.
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