day 13
What
does the
Jack of Spades
hold in his hand?
What was once a spear
has evolved into a strange thing
that defies deciphering, all because generations of
artisans reproduced their predecessors’ work, without referencing the
original sources: an elaborate game of visual Chinese Whispers.
Category: imago/poema 2 comments »
May 15th, 2009 at 4:56 am
I
Would have
To ask what
On earth is a
Jack in the first place?
In
the dictionary,
I find that
He is a man
Or fellow, as in “jack-of-all-trades”.
Or
As in
Every man jack
Which means a sailor.
Dickens
Called the
Sailor Jack Tar
From the word tarpaulin,
Their hats of tarred cloth.
As early as in the 1600s.
Jack
Is used
As a replacement
For John or Jacob.
Jack
Is attached
To other words
Such as jackrabbit, jackass,
Jumping-jack, jackboot, jackdraw, jackknife, jump-in-the=box,
Jackstraw (Jack Straw led the common
People’s rising in 1831 gives us the meaning).
Brewer
gives a
list of 74
terms, from Jack Adams
(a fool) to Yellow jack
Saying that Jack is always used depreciatingly.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:13 am
beautiful