Thursday, September 5, 2019

JAG



The term Jag has a number of meanings but if you are an old time Eastern Shore/ Chesapeake Bay region person you know it refers to a load of something.  It could be hay or a large amount of oysters or just something that weights a lot.  Usually it would be used as “I have got a bit of a jag on my truck” meaning the person has a heavy load  It is one of those old English words (jaggen) from the 1600s that carried over and stayed in use on the Eastern Shore.  It is like using the term pine shats when referring to pine needles, both are English terms from the 1600s.  Both terms and a number of others are disappearing from our culture as our children go out into the world and think they have to conform to foreigners way of speaking.  

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