Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» John fitzergerald Kennedy was called "jack". How do you get jack from john and why? So we have a donjack prez then don't we?
Me to neither. I'm Rosemarie so Rosie makes sense. Tommy from Tom and Johnny from John. It's a weird world Spunky. I think a lot more doesn't make sense than does. I'm gonna ask. Thank you for your reply! :)
This post was edited by RosieG at March 4, 2018 10:40 AM MST
Satire apart, I'd guess that contracting Donald John to 'Donjon' rather than 'Donjack' simply follows the allure of a semi-alliterative rhyme.
Jack or rarely, Jacky, has been a familiar form of John for a very long time - it's always been common in Britain too, so probably travelled West with the early settlers from Britain and Ireland. So calling John Kennedy, "Jack", is not unexpected.
'Jack' also pops up in English folklore without necessarily citing anyone actually called John; e.g. the 19C mythical person called Springheel Jack, and in Jack O'Lantern, an old, alternative name for the Will o'the Wisp (flickering, short-lived flames of spontaneously-igniting methane above the peat bogs that emit it.)
I don't know if anyone has managed to trace its origins: etymology of colloquialisms can often give only known first examples in print.
An old British generic nick-name for a sailor was "Jack Tar" - probably fallen out of use along with the use of tar to preserve ropes and timber. Why 'Jack' though? The World War 1 adoption of 'Tommy [Atkins]' as the generic nickname for a British soldier seems to be in similar, affectionate, spirit to Jack Tar.
One colloquial diminution of a name that differs across the Atlantic, is that for Charles. It was only quite recently that I learnt that the American "Chuck" is the equivalent of our "Chas". I wonder if perhaps Chuck is not from the English "Charles" but another European country's version of the same name?
SpunkySenior 