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jack squat

noun

Etymology

Related to both jack shit and squat as in diddly-squat; apparently a blend of them. Attested since the 1970s; especially widely popularized by a Saturday Night Live sketch of 1993, "Matt Foley: A Scary Story on Halloween."

Definitions

  1. Synonym of jack shit.

    • […] into the fracas with nonsensical gibberish, pretending to be speaking intelligently in Tigrinya. We had a lot of fun like that. The class also enjoyed learning American phrases. One of their favorites was "Diddly Jack Squat".
    • Oh, sure, I say and hand it over. "When is it?" I ask. He's about to send me on my way and I don't know jack squat about it.

  2. Alternative form of jack squat.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for jack squat. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA