Wiktionary

Jerry

See also: jerry

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Clipping +‎ -y.

Proper noun

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Jerry (plural Jerrys or Jerries)

  1. A diminutive of the male given names Gerald, Gerard, Jeremy, Jeremiah, Jared, Jerome, Jermaine, Jerrold, and similar male given names.
    • 1886 November 25, “On the Block. A Grand Display of Meat at the Fat-Stock Show.”, in The Breeder’s Gazette. […], volume X, number 22 (261 overall), Chicago, Ill.: J[ames] H[arvey] Sanders & Co., […], page 785:
      We stated in our last that the award in this class was sent to Fowler & Vannatta’s Jerry, but this was a mistake which arose from the fact that there were two Jerrys in this class and both of them grade Herefords, one from Benton County, Ind., and one shown by Wallace Libby & Co., Ottawa, Ill. When the awards were made it was announced that Mr. Vannatta’s Jerry was the winner, and that breeder left for his home congratulating himself on the fact of having a winner on the block; […]
    • 1970, Santha Rama Rau, The Adventuress, page 157:
      ..."I, incidentally, am Jeremy Wilson, and anyone who abbreviates that to 'Jerry' does so at unspeakable peril."
      "Oh really?" Kay asked. "Why?"
      "Well, just a wartime hangover. We used to call the Germans 'Jerries'."
      "I don't know much about the German war."
    • 1984, Stephen King, Peter Straub, The Talisman, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN, pages 169–170:
      And Jerry would appear, his work-clothes clean and pressed, his thinning rust-red hair combed flat, his glasses round and earnest, and quietly fix whatever was wrong. There was a Mrs. Jerry, who kept the creases sharp and clean in the tan workpants, and several small Jerrys, whom Sawyer & Sloat invariably remembered at Christmas. Jack had been small enough to associate the name Jerry with Tom Cat’s eternal adversary [Jerry Mouse], and so imagined that the handyman and Mrs. Jerry and the little Jerrys lived in a giant mouse-hole, accessible by a curved arch cut into a baseboard.
    • 1997, Lawrence R[ichard] Smith, “Coalition”, in The Map of Who We Are: A Novel (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series; 24), Norman, Okla.; London: University of Oklahoma Press, →ISBN, page 245:
      Maxine grabbed the hair on the top of her head. “No, Jerry, I’m not talking hippy dippy. You’re not hearing me.” / Carla snickered. “I’m going to remember what he just said about nostalgia the next time he tells one of his Brown Beret stories.” She glanced around the table. “You may not know it, but Jerry is a sucker for stories with a moral to them.” / Vizenor shifted in his seat, cleared his throat. […] Carla looked at the Berkeley writer, startled. “I’m sorry, I forgot there were two Jerrys here. I was referring to the guy at the head of the table—Martinez.” There was uncomfortable laughter, then a long silence as the assembled activists eyed one another and sipped coffee. Jerry Vizenor leaned forward on his elbows and massaged his temples.
    • 2003, Ira Pohl, “Nested Classes”, in C# by Dissection: The Essentials of C# Programming, Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 249:
      There are many Nancies and Jerries in the world. They get told apart by a further name, such as Nancy Lovelace, or Jerry Turing.
    • 2009, Laura Wattenberg, “Mid-Century America”, in The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, →ISBN:
      If the names we give our children represent our hopes for the future, names like Kathie and Jerry, Darlene and Butch are dreams of contentment. […] Of course, the generation bestowed with those contented names ended up far from content. The little Kathies and Jerries born in 1950 grew up to be the protesters, free-lovers, and Woodstock attendees of 1969.
  2. A diminutive of the female given names Geraldine and Jerilyn.
  3. An unincorporated community in Asotin County, Washington, United States; named for early rancher Jerry McGuire.
Alternative forms
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Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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Jerry (plural Jerries)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of jerry (“a chamber pot”).

Etymology 3

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Clipping of German +‎ -y. Popularized during World War I.

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Proper noun

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Jerry

  1. (UK, US, ethnic slur, dated) A personification of the German people.
    • 2011 [1965], Olivia Manning, Friends And Heroes (The Balkan Trilogy)‎[1], Random House, →ISBN:
      Phipps went on: “One of our chaps, out on a reccy over the Bulgarian front, thought he saw something in the snow. Something fishy. He dropped down to have a dekko and nearly had kittens. What d'you think? Jerry's got a mass of stuff there—tanks, guns, lorries, every sort of heavy armament. All camouflaged. White.”
    • 2012, Bill Leckie, Penthouse and Pavement:
      […] chucking your towel on the sunbed and making sure Jerry doesn't get there first.

Noun

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Jerry (plural Jerries)

  2. (UK, US, ethnic slur, dated) A German, particularly a male German.
    Synonyms: Boche, Fritz, Kraut
    • 2012, Margaret James, The Penny Bangle, Harpenden: Choc Lit, →ISBN, page 43:
      But Robert had been cheeriness itself, had told them to buck up and think of England, reminding them that moaning wasn’t going to beat the Jerries.
Usage notes
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  • Reused during World War II and used since that war to connote lingering animosity or enmity towards Germans or Germany.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Swedish

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Etymology

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From English Jerry. First recorded as a Swedish given name in 1906.

Proper noun

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Jerry c (genitive Jerrys)

  1. a male given name
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