jerkwater

[jurk-waw-ter, -wot-er]

adjective

1. Informal.,  insignificant and out-of-the-way.

   a jerkwater town.

2. (formerly) off the main line.

   a jerkwater train.

noun

1. (formerly) a train not running on the main line.

jerkwater

/ ˈdʒɜːkˌwɔːtə /

adjective

1. slang,  inferior and insignificant

   a jerkwater town

Word History and Origins

Origin of jerkwater¹

1875–80, jerk ¹ + water; so called from the jerking (i.e., drawing) of water to fill buckets for supplying a steam locomotive

Word History and Origins

Origin of jerkwater¹

C19: originally referring to railway locomotives for which water was taken on in buckets from streams along the route

Example Sentences

A lecturer at a jerkwater technical college in England, Wilt is condemned to teach classes like Meat One and Gasfitters Two to academically disinclined students.

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We were flying on top of a jerkwater railway, just missing the tops of the trees, when we bumped into a solid wall of fog.

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So I taught at one jerkwater college after another.

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He's never been out of a jerkwater burg in his life, hardly.

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They came from Chicago and jerkwater towns in Nebraska, from farms and steel mills, from the stage and the pulpit.

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