Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
JACKLEG
Etymology
Compare blackleg (a person who replaces striking workers; a cheater) and such expressions as jack of all trades, every man jack.
Adjective
jackleg (not comparable)
(US) Amateur, untrained; incompetent.
(US) Dishonest, unscrupulous.
(US) Ineptly built or operated; makeshift.
Noun
jackleg (plural jacklegs)
A type of drill operated by means of compressed air.
(US) An amateur; an untrained or incompetent person.
(US) A shyster or con artist; a gambler who cheats; a generally dishonest or reprehensible person.
Usage notes
Although the term most often carries negative connotations (inept, dishonest), it may also have positive ones (self-taught expert, hands-on learner). Occasionally it is used as a generic pejorative intensifier, equivalent to damn, out-and-out, etc, e.g. a jackleg crook, a jackleg bastard.
Source: Wiktionary
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
30 January 2025
HYPERICISM
(noun) a severe dermatitis of herbivorous domestic animals attributable to photosensitivity from eating Saint John’s wort
Coffee Trivia
