[lit-ideas] Re: Jink & Juke
- From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:11:51 -0700
Julie wrote
Okay -- I get a general sense of the meaning and understand the
extrapolation to political maneuvering, but it isn't precise enough.
There are a number of people on this list who likely can offer a better
explanation -- what exactly is a "jink" and a "juke"? What do those
words even mean? Anyone have a notion of the origin of the phrase?
As far as I know, these were originally terms in Rugby, and American
football—and possibly association football. They refer to evasive
maneuvers by the person carrying the ball to avoid a defender. They are
frequently used (in the US) by sports announcers to describe the
movements and running style of certain running backs (q.v.).
For example
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/the-jink-swerve-and-sidestep-are-back-in-style-661237.html
"There are still areas where the players of the past were superior: not
so much in speed on a straight line as in elusiveness. Wilkinson
astonished everybody – this is not meant to depreciate him in any way –
because what he did on Saturday was so rare in modern rugby, certainly
in internationals. There is no need, however, to romanticise the past.
Top-class exponents of the jink, the swerve and the side-step have
always been rare creatures. Steve Fenwick and Ray Gravell, Wales'
centres in the great days, were competent, but ordinary players, not
manifestly superior to Mike Tindall, certainly not to Will Greenwood."
and
http://www.wikihow.com/Juke-or-Dodge-a-Defender-in-Football
Simple explanation. A ball carrier runs straight at a defender in the
open field, and at the last minute fakes the defender into thinking he
will go right (e.g.) and goes left. Sometimes the runner will almost
come to a complete stop and do a rapid little 'dance.' Juking is
different from simply trying to bowl over the defender or run past him
at an angle.
I'm sure the expression 'jinking and juking' originated in sports and
was adopted by the military. Think of it as meaning 'quick,
unpredictable evasive action.'
Robert Paul
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