Name: English Tutor Nick P Word Origins (62) Jockey and Related Phrases with Jockey
Uploaded: 2019-08-07T15:04:15.000Z
Duration: 6 min 2 s
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Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origin 62. The word origin today is

Relative clauses (Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive)

jockey and we will cover some other idioms that's also related to the word

jockey or has the word jockey in them.  All right. So let's look at the note here.

The word jockey comes from the Scottish name

was equal to John. Jockey is actually a diminutive for Jock. Yeah. So remember we

say like a diminutive,  it's the often the shorter name or name that somebody might

use for them when they are a small kid.  Like for example if somebody who's named

Thomas or Tom they might call them Tommy.  Or if somebody was called Bob,  they might

call them Bobby. This is what we mean by a diminutive. It's usually used with you

know,  children or  to children. When they grow older , they may choose to use you

know , the other name like Bob or Tom the more formal name or Thomas. All right Well

let's continue here. All right and Jock was also used to mean boy or fellow.

That's also important coming up. So sometimes you know especially in England

and stuff there's a lot of people named John so it just became kind of a name

for a boy or young man or something.  Fellow dating all the way back to the

1500s. In the 16th and 17th centuries , the word jockey started to be used with

horse dealers you know,  the people that like sold horses or had a business with

horses,  and the horse riders. All right. So the riders of the horses. Our present-day

meaning applies to a man who rides horses only in races. So that's the

meaning today. Okay.  Let's continue. The use of the word

jockey has also led to the origins of several other phrases such as jockey

shorts,  bench jockey,  desk jockey,  and jockey for

position. All right. So let's look at some here. Jockey shorts just really refers to

men's or boys tight-fitting underwear.  Yes. Sometimes I used to wonder why do they call

it jockey shorts ? Does it look like the shorts jockeys wear ? Why are we calling it

jockey shorts ? Probably just because you know jockey traditionally also really

referred to boy or or fellow. So it's just a man shorts or a boy's shorts,

their underwear. Okay. Yeah. So I mean if you wanted an example,  you could say he,  he

bought three pairs of jockey shorts today. All right. Let's look at the next one.

A bench jockey refers to a baseball coach or player who will heckle or

criticize either the umpire or opposing players. Yes.  So they will probably yell

things like,  you're terrible.  You're no good.  You're nervous or whatever it is. Try to

intimidate them or get them you know to to lose their concentration in the game.

So they'll make mistakes and and your team could get an advantage. Okay. The

idea alludes to riding someone. So this is a second meaning of the word, to ride

or if you ride someone, it means to criticize or harass them. So that's how

they get the idea of bench jockey. So you know a bench jockey,  they would probably be a

you know,  a backup player or a benchwarmer.

This is the one person that usually has more time to be yelling at stuff like this,

and that's why it came to be bench jockey. So again , if you want an example

you could say you know,  that backup player you know, is often a bench jockey.

He yells out or criticizes you know,  umpires calls or you know the other

players or something like that. All right.  Let's continue. Desk jockey.

All right,  refers to someone who spends the majority of their time seated at a desk

like a jockey must sit on his horse. So you're forced to stay.  They are forced to stay

sitting down.  So that's,  that's where that came from. So

they call it a desk jockey. Again if you want an example we could say you know

being a desk jockey you know,  somebody who works in the office all the time... is

a is a sedentary type of a job.  Because you're forced to sit all the

time. That's a sedentary type of a job. So you're not probably not getting enough

exercise. All right and let's continue here. With the last one to jockey for

position means to try to compete with others like a jockey competes for

position. So as that ... especially though as the race gets going,  and one horse is

trying to get ahead of another horse,  they're trying to get the better

position. Obviously the inside is the best position. Because then you can you know,

it's the shortest way around the track and you know,  if there's a horse that

has to catch up,  he's got to get ahead and try to get into that position. So

yeah.  Like , like for this we could use you know, presently in the US there's a lot

of candidates running for the Democrat Party. In their debates you could say

they're trying to jockey for position to be noticed. You know,  so they're all

trying to say things. Sometimes they criticize the others. You know,  in order

to try to make themselves look better.  And then there's also jockey for

position just like . a real jockey may try to jockey for position to get a

better position in order to hopefully win the race. Okay. Anyway,  I hope you got

it. I hope  it was clear. I hope... I hope it was very informative,  and I hope you

enjoyed it. Thank you for your time.  Bye-bye.