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, Americanism; 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.

From New York Times

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.

From Project Gutenberg

So I taught at one jerkwater college after another.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg