Jerry

See also: jerry

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛɹi/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɹi

Etymology 1

Proper noun

Jerry

1. A diminutive of the male given names Jeremiah, Jeremy, Jerome, Jared, Jermaine, Jerrold, Gerald, Gerard, or similar male given names.
   • 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."

2. A diminutive of the female given names Geraldine or Jerilyn.
3. An unincorporated community in Asotin County, Washington, United States; named for early rancher Jerry McGuire.

Alternative forms

• (diminutive of Gerald, Gerard): Gerry
• (female diminutive): Gerry, Geri, Gerri, Jeri, Jerri, Jerrie

Etymology 2

Noun

Jerry (plural Jerries)

1. Alternative letter-case form of jerry: a chamber pot

Etymology 3

A clipped form of German popularized during the First World War.

Alternative forms

• jerry, geri, gerri

Proper noun

Jerry

1. (UK, US, ethnic slur, dated) A personification of the German people.
   • 2012, Bill Leckie, Penthouse and Pavement:

     […] chucking your towel on the sunbed and making sure Jerry doesn't get there first.

Noun

Jerry (plural Jerries)

2. (British, 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

Reused during World War II and used since that war to connote lingering animosity or enmity towards Germans or Germany.

Derived terms

• jerrycan

Translations

slang: German — see Fritz

German — see German

Swedish

Etymology

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

Proper noun

Jerry c (genitive Jerrys)

1. a male given name