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whipjack (WHIP-jak) - n., (obs.) a beggar pretending to be a distressed or shipwrecked sailor.
By extension, this became a general term of contempt. Obsolete, in no small part because seamen down on their luck on land are nowhere near as common as they once were. Whip from the flogging that sailors commonly received (and possibly also the whipping of fortune) and jack as a general term for a man or worker ("every man jack").
---L.
By extension, this became a general term of contempt. Obsolete, in no small part because seamen down on their luck on land are nowhere near as common as they once were. Whip from the flogging that sailors commonly received (and possibly also the whipping of fortune) and jack as a general term for a man or worker ("every man jack").
---L.
