Jackleg definition

Had never heard of the term and wondered why some people became all insulted and hostile when referred to being such.

Jackleg, adj., is a Southern adjective meaning inept, unprofessional, or dishonest. It is usually applied to members of a particular occupation. You do not, for example, want to take your car to a jackleg mechanic. The term dates to 1837. It may be from an older term, a jackleg knife or jackknife, perhaps first applied to carpenters who used jackleg knives. Jackleg knife dates to 1786.
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/886/

Jack-leg: Self taught, especially in reference to automobile mechanics and clergy-men. "He"s just a jack-leg preacher, but he sure knows how to put out the hellfire and brimstone."
http://www.gagirl.com/southern/south.html

jackleg JAK-leg (adjective) 1 a : lacking skill or training : amateur *b : characterized by unscrupulousness, dishonesty, or lack of professional standards 2 : makeshift Example sentence: There we were, stuck in Nowheresville with a jackleg mechanic who told us he"d fix the car but we"d have to wait a few days unless we wanted to pay him double. Did you know? Don"t call someone a "jackleg" unless you"re prepared for them to get angry with you. Throughout its more than 150-year- old history in English, "jackleg" has most often been used as a term of contempt and deprecation, particularly in reference to lawyers and preachers. Its form echoes that of the similar "blackleg," an older term for a cheating gambler or a worker opposed to union policies. Etymologists know that "blackleg" appeared over a hundred years before "jackleg," but they don"t have any verifiable theories about the origin of the earlier term.
http://osdir.com/ml/culture.language.word-of-the-day/2002-10/msg00021.html

B&D,thanks I kinda wondered what that meant.

Self taught that's me.Oh well I guess I'm just one of them.Mark

"Jack of all trades".........and master of none!!

Have heard the term all my life; locally, it's usually applied to carpenters, i.e. jackleg carpenter, meaning someone whose work is apt to be 'rough', less finished than that of a master carpenter.

i rather be a jack of all trades than an, I know it all proffesional of one trade only.[i have proved some of them wrong a few times]Its far more usefull in life I found.

on top of that ,nobody knows it all,that would make them GOD.

"Jack-xxx" has a number of negative connotations- Jack-booted thug; Jack-Mormon; Jacka$$; jacklight (a light used at night for illegal hunting or fishing); jack salmon (a small or immature salmon, that often gets in the way of hooking a big one); jackanape; jack pine (little, inferior trees, usually closely spaced)

How rude of those southern people using words you northerners can not understand.

Jackleg can also be used to describe how a job was done.
Means thrown together or built in such a way it looks temporary.

I have to watch the words I use sometimes as others may not know what I am talking about.
Such as "Neutral Ground" a true southern word.

Thanks for the research and definitions. I always knew it was an insult of the worst variety to a professional. Still I didn"t know the history of the term nor the other conotations.

Since I"m about as Southern as they come(and some might even say I"ve got a good touch of plain old Redneck in me too) you can now see why I got POed the other day. Beyond working on equipment I"m also pretty much a jack of all trades and might even be called a jacka-- once in awhile if I PO someone else, but Jackleg is a bit too much of an insult for someone that doesn"t know me. On the other hand my friends can call me anything they want to, they"ve earned the right.....as long as they don"t forget to call me at meal time.

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I went to Army medic school with a Cajun, along with people from all over the US, and none of us knew what the heck he was saying half the time. When he did say something we could understand it was usually something hilarious.

definition of jackleg pretty much sums up your attempt to repair that Cat excavtor.

I have honestly never heard of the term either,interesting, thanks for the education.

Your definitions sound about right. As do john in la's and thurlow's. I don't think it is used as much now as it was 20-30 years ago. {here in extreme SE Kansas}

Sometimes, "shade-tree" can insult someone if they are in the mood for it.

Another one of them thing my Dad from SC would say. Still miss him 40 years later. He could sell anything to anybody and HONEST. Try that if you dare.

The term is more common in the milling business as a 'leg' is usually a slang term for a vertical lift elevator for grain, meal and other bulk commodities. The term 'jack' is for primary lift ie; a 'jackleg' is the elevator that lifts grains from a drag conveyor in an unloading pit to a drum magnet or scalper or both. Then the grain drops into a 'highleg' and is carried to the top of a mill building and dropped into either another drag conveyor or directly into a turnhead to be distributed to a perticular storage bin. Just depends on the part of the country your from.

That term "Neutral Ground" might really throw the Electricians into a tizzy.. LOL... But in the South, it ain't about electricity..

Shadetree mechanic implys working on cars in the back yard under a tree. I'm a CORNCRIB mechanic, I work on stuff behind the barn!

The first definition. you can be inept and honest,however I didn't take it to be complimentary when it was first used.How brave we can be in anonymity.

Man I really hate I didn"t get to see your response to my post that got removed. Sounds like you got beat up pretty badly by some others on the board and couldn"t take it without name calling, again....so sad....

As for the CAT excavator I"ll say only this. After getting the rebuilt pump back Monday, installing it Tuesday, and then having to pull off of it to make repairs to two of his other machines, as of yesterday it"s back up and running and making my customer money. I"ve had this guy and his multi million dollar fleet of machines as a customer for nearly 10 years now, along with many others. I will continue to keep them as a customers because I know my job and take the time to repair their machines properly the first time. This means finding not just what is broke but also the cause of a breakdown when possible and if possible doing what"s necessary to prevent it happening again, not just change parts. Beyond that I simply treat them right and keep their equipment running which keeps their wallet fat. Try getting that kind of service from a dealership.

to convince??? me, yourself or the customer with the cat excavator you raped?

and your cancer ridden father in law kicks off Ill give you the phone number of a good jack leg undertaker.

Have a nice day