different between twit vs jerk

English

Etymology

Originally twite, an aphetism of Middle English atwite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tw?t/, [t?w??t]
• Rhymes: -?t

Verb

twit (third-person singular simple present twits, present participle twitting, simple past and past participle twitted)

1. (transitive) To reproach, blame; to ridicule or tease.
   • 1590, Shakespeare. History of Henry VI, Part II, Act III, Scene I

     "Hath he not twit our sovereign lady here

     With ignominious words, though clerkly couch'd,

     As if she had suborned some to swear

     False allegations to o'erthrow his state? " -

   • 1836, Joanna Baillie, Romiero, Act 3, p.55.

     "Nay, do not twit me now with all the freaks,
     And levities, and gambols charged upon me
     By every lean-faced dame that wears a hood."

   • 1955, Rex Stout, "When a Man Murders...", in Three Witnesses, October 1994 Bantam edition, ?ISBN, page 106:

     Mr. Cramer, a policeman, came this morning and twitted me for having let a murderer hoodwink me.

   • 2007, Bernard Porter, "Did He Puff his Crimes to Please a Bloodthirsty Readership?", review of Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal, London Review of Books, 5 April, 29:7, p. 10

     H. R. Fox Bourne, secretary of the Aborigines' Protection Society – often twitted for being an ‘armchair critic’ – wrote in a review of one of Stanley's books […]

   • a. 1694, John Tillotson, The Folly of Scoffing at Religion

     This […] these scoffers twitted the Christian with.
2. (transitive, computing) To ignore or killfile (a user on a bulletin board system).
   • 1995, "Michelle Jackson", Debutante/Question about Tori Shirts (on newsgroup rec.music.tori-amos)

     However, on the Internet BBS's such as Quartz (now dead), Prism, Monsoon, Sunset, ect^[sic], someone pulling that kind of crap is likely to get flamed quite fast and twitted before he/she can breathe.

   • 2002, "Chris Hoppman", FidoNet Feed Needed (on newsgroup alt.bbs)

     And no, there is no "thought purification program" that can filter out some folks^[sic] obscene ideas that can be expressed w/o written vulgarities. That has to be simply "dealt" with, either by ignoring or twitting the individual that offends habitually.

Translations

Noun

twit (plural twits)

1. A reproach, gibe or taunt.
2. A foolish or annoying person.
   • 1988, Larry Kramer, Just Say No

     What do you mean, since when did I become such a radical fairy? Since I started knowing twits like you, you twit!

3. A euphemism for "twat", a contemptible or stupid person.
   • 2009, David Cameron

     "Too many twits make a twat." He was subsequently pilloried for not knowing that "twat" is actually very rude, and for not realising that one is a euphemism for the other.

     https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/29/david-cameron-apology-radio-twitter

4. A person who twitters, i.e. chatters inanely (see usage notes).

Usage notes

In the UK, the word "twit" for a person is usually used in a humorous or affectionate manner.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fool

Derived terms

• twitling

Translations

Anagrams

• Witt

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twit/

Noun

twit m (plural twits)

1. (Quebec, colloquial) twit (foolish person)
2. a tweet (a message on Twitter)

Synonyms

• (Twitter): tweet

Related terms

• (Twitter): twitter

Spanish

Noun

twit m (plural twits)

1. tweet (message on Twitter)

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d????k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d???k/
• Rhymes: -??(?)k

Etymology 1

Probably from Middle English yerk (“sudden motion”) and Middle English yerkid (“tightly pulled”), from Old English ?earc (“ready, active, quick”) and Old English ?earcian (“to ready, prepare”). Compare Old English ?earcian (“to prepare, make ready, procure, furnish, supply”). Related to yare.

Alternative forms

• yark

Noun

jerk (plural jerks)

1. A sudden, often uncontrolled movement, especially of the body.
   • 1856, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling

     The black cloth bestrewn with white beads blew up from time to time, laying bare the coffin. The tired bearers walked more slowly, and it advanced with constant jerks, like a boat that pitches with every wave.

2. A quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.

   When I yell "OK," give the mooring line a good jerk!

3. (US, slang, derogatory) A dull or stupid person.
4. (Canada, US, slang, derogatory) A person with unlikable or obnoxious qualities and behavior, typically mean, self-centered, or disagreeable.
   • I finally fired him, because he was being a real jerk to his customers, even to some of the staff.
   • You really are a jerk sometimes.
5. (physics, engineering) The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.
6. (obsolete) A soda jerk.
7. (weightlifting) A lift in which the weight is taken with a quick motion from shoulder height to a position above the head with arms fully extended and held there for a brief time.

Usage notes

• Jerk is measured in metres per second cubed (m/s³) in SI units, or in feet per second cubed (ft/s³) in imperial units.

Synonyms

• (sudden movement): jolt, lurch, jump
• (quick tug): yank
• (stupid person): numbskull
• (unlikable person): asshole, bastard, twat, knobhead, tosser, wanker, git, dick; see Thesaurus:jerk.
• (physics, change in acceleration): jolt (British), surge, lurch

Derived terms

• jerkish
• soda jerk

Translations

Verb

jerk (third-person singular simple present jerks, present participle jerking, simple past and past participle jerked)

1. (intransitive) To make a sudden uncontrolled movement.
   • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 23[1]

     York came to me first, whilst the groom stood at Ginger's head. He drew my head back and fixed the rein so tight that it was almost intolerable; then he went to Ginger, who was impatiently jerking her head up and down against the bit, as was her way now.

2. (transitive) To give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
3. (US, slang, vulgar) To masturbate.
4. (obsolete) To beat, to hit.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Florio to this entry?)

5. (obsolete) To throw with a quick and suddenly arrested motion of the hand.

   to jerk a stone

6. (usually transitive, weightlifting) To lift using a jerk.
7. (obsolete) To flout with contempt.

Derived terms

• jerk off
• jerksome

Translations

See also

• acceleration
• displacement
• velocity
• jounce

Etymology 2

From American Spanish charquear, from charqui, from Quechua ch'arki.

Noun

jerk (uncountable)

1. (Caribbean, Jamaican) A rich, spicy Jamaican marinade.
2. (Caribbean, Jamaican) Meat cured by jerking; charqui.

   Jerk chicken is a local favorite.

Related terms

• jerky (noun)

Translations

Verb

jerk (third-person singular simple present jerks, present participle jerking, simple past and past participle jerked)

1. To cure (meat) by cutting it into strips and drying it, originally in the sun.

Translations

French

Etymology

From English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d???k/

Noun

jerk m (plural jerks)

1. jerk (dance)

Further reading

• “jerk” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Manx

Verb

jerk (verbal noun jerkal, past participle jerkit)

1. to expect

Mutation