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jerkwater. (adj.). also jerk-water, "petty, inferior, insignificant," 1890, earlier in reference to certain railroad trains and lines (1878); in both cases the notion is of a steam locomotive crew having to take on boiler water from a trough or a creek because there was no water tank; see jerk (v.1) + water (n.1).
Definition of jerk-water in the Idioms Dictionary. jerk-water phrase. ... They're sending me to some jerkwater town in Wyoming for the assignment. See also: jerkwater
Definition of jerkwater town in the Idioms Dictionary. jerkwater town phrase. What does jerkwater town expression mean? Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary.
Synonyms for JERKWATER: one-horse, unimportant, small-fry, trifling, trivial, small, insignificant, incidental; Antonyms of JERKWATER: major, important, big ...
Q. Why do we call a backward place a "jerkwater" town? A. Steam engines needed to refill their boilers from water towers next to the tracks but some "towns" were so small that they lacked a water tower.
jerk water (third-person singular simple present jerks water, present participle jerking water, simple past and past participle jerked water) ( US, rail transport, apocryphal) To fill a steam locomotive water tank manually from natural water supplies (a hypothetical process whose use has been discredited). ( US, rail transport, dated) To scoop ...
Mar 4, 2021 · jerkwater. 4 March 2021. The adjective jerkwater denotes something small or insignificant, and it’s often found in the phrase jerkwater town. The word comes from the idea of a small town where a stagecoach would only stop because it affords the chance to water the horses, and in later use it would extend to railroad lines.
