Dictionary

jerk-water en · ADJ

Meanings

1. (US, colloquial, derogatory) Of an inhabited place, small, isolated, backward.
   • That seems to disappoint them, for every sociologist likes to go back to some jerk-water college and tell those who are in the sociological class how they had to get their information by pantomime." 1907, Charles Stelzle, Christianity's Storm Centre: A Study of the Modern City, page 103:
2. (US, colloquial, derogatory) Railroads with low traffic.
   • Can the keen-minded Mr. Willard at Baltimore be more anxious than the keen-minded Mr. Rea at Philadelphia to undertake the management of jerk-water branches in Connecticut or in Rhode Island or down on Cape Cod ? 1922, Edward Hungerford, Our Railroads To-morrow, page 297:
   • He had risen to the head of the greatest street car system in the world from the position of brakeman on a jerk-water railroad. 1915, Daniel Jacob Hauer, The Economics of Contracting: A Treatise for Contractors, Engineers […], volume II, page 212:

Forms

Relateds

jerk water · jerkwater

Synonyms

See: Thesaurus:remote place

jerk-water en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (derogatory) A branch line train, using light equipment
   • The mail was brought by a tiny "jerk-water" bobtail dummy and coach run by one, Tony, from Pearl City, a mile away, to a station near the end of the peninsula. 1918, Charmian London, Jack London and Hawaii, page 19:

Forms