Jock

Jock is a name for both people and things. For its etymologies, translations, and slang meanings not stated below, check Wiktionary.

A jock, by most accepted standards of the stereotype (if you are American), is an individual - usually a tall, physically fit, male in his late teens or early twenties - who is well-known for his athletic abilities (This definition is hardly recognised outside of the United States of America). Jocks are more widely recognized in certain team sports, such as basketball, football, american football, rock climbing and rugby. The term "jock" can be used pejoratively, neutrally, or even complimentarily. The pejorative use refers to an individual whose awareness of his own athletic abilities (or possible lack thereof) gives him the appearance of conceit, real or not to the observer (and in this sense the words "musclehead" and "musclebrain" are sometimes used); and as a result, jocks are often regarded as bullies to their peers, especially those who are not athletically inclined or don't play sports in general. Most famously, the targets of bullying by "jocks" are "nerds" - as popularized by movies such as Revenge of the Nerds - given the idea that the athletically inclined and the intellectually inclined are polar opposites and that the traits each stereotyped group exhibit cannot coexist peacefully.

Jock is also a term used, often derogatively, by the English for people from Scotland.

Generic terms for people

• A pejorative term for a Scottish Soldier (like an English Tommy) and used as a nickname by such units as the British 9th (Scottish) Division, the "Jocks".
• used generically for 'the common man' (as John, Dick)
• Jockey was originally a diminutive of Jock.
• Jock (subculture), an athlete.
• Shock jock, a disk jockey known for making off-colour comments on-air

Individual people and characters commonly known by solely their given name Jock

• Jock Stein - Celtic FC manager (1965-78), a football club in Scotland, and regarded by many as one of the greatest managers the game has ever seen. A gentleman important for much more than just sport, the impact he had socially can never be understated.
• Jock (comics), a British comic book artist
• Jock the New Engine, a locomotive on the fictional Arlesdale Railway in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry
• Jock, Vincent Reis, an all-star sprinter
• Jock, Paul Denton's friend and JC Denton's black helicopter pilot in Deus Ex.

Animals

• Jock was the name of Winston Churchill's cat
• in fiction, Wee Jock was the dog owned by Hamish Macbeth.
• Jock of the Bushveld Book by South African author Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, telling of FitzPatrick's travels with his dog Jock during the 1880s

Things known as Jocks or Jock

• a shortening of jockstrap (type of male underwear often used by sportsmen)
• Jock series albums by Tommy Boy records is a popular superseries of albums split into subseries like Jock Jams, Jock Rock. However, Slam Jams is part of the superseries abeit omission of "Jock" in the name.

In Music

• Jock o' the Side, a border ballad
• John of Hazelgreen, ditto

Slang Usage

• Jock is sometimes used in slang terms as saying that you are obsessed with someone. For instance, if you say: "Craig was on Sally's jock." it means that Craig is obsessed with Sally to the point where he is almost a stalker.

See also

• The Jocks and the Geordies, a Dandy comic strip

External links

• The Essence of Jock