 |
Jack-a-napes
or Jackanapes = Jack of apes. An impertinent, vulgar
prig. (See Jeannot.) More likely, it is Jack and ape, formed on the model of Jack-ass, a stupid fool.
“I will teach a scurvy jackanape priest to meddle or make.” —Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, i. 4.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Jack-a-napes from Infoplease:
- Jack-a-napes - Jack-a-napes or Jackanapes = Jack of apes. An impertinent, vulgar prig. (See Jeannot.) More likely, ...
- jackanapes: meaning and definitions - jackanapes: Definition and Pronunciation
- William Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, Act I, Scene IV - What, John Rugby! I pray thee, go to the casement, and see if you can see my master, Master Doctor Caius, coming. If he do, i' faith, and find any bod
- Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: J - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "J"
|
|