jerkwater

See also: jerk-water and jerk water

English

WOTD – 20 April 2010

Etymology

US mid-19th century. From jerk (“to move with a sudden movement”) +‎ water. Refers to the need to supply the boilers of steam trains with water. In rural areas and small towns with no water tower, where the train did not stop, this was done by scooping ("jerking") water from a track pan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɚk.wɔ.tɚ/

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

jerkwater (plural jerkwaters)

1. (US, historical) A train on a branch line.
   • 1975, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 71, no. 1 (Mar. 1975), page 355

     […] by bailing from near streams with buckets, (the brake-man called this operation jerking water) and from this the road gets its name of jerkwater road.

Translations

a train on a branch line

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Adjective

jerkwater (comparative more jerkwater, superlative most jerkwater)

1. (US, colloquial, derogatory) Of an inhabited place, small, insignificant, and backward.

Synonyms

• See: Thesaurus:remote place

Derived terms

• jerkwater town

Translations

of an inhabited place, small, insignificant, backward

• Russian: ма́ленький (ru) (málenʹkij), незначи́тельный (ru) (neznačítelʹnyj)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Related terms

• jerk water
• jerk-water