J

a jack-of-all-trades someone who can do

several different jobs instead of special-

izing in one. John can do plumbing, car-

pentry, and roofing—a real jack-of-all-

trades. He isn’t very good at any of them.

Take your car to a trained mechanic, not

a jack-of-all-trades.

jack someone up to motivate someone; to

stimulate someone to do something.

(Slang.) The mail is late again today.

We’ll have to jack those people up at the

post office. T I guess I’ll have to jack up

the carpenter again to repair my stairs.

jack something up 1. to raise something up

on a mechanical lifting device. Now I

have to jack the car up so I can change the

tire. T Please jack up the car. 2. to raise

the price of something. The store keeps

jacking prices up. T The grocery store

jacked up the prices again last night.

jazz something up to make something more

exciting, colorful, or lively. (Slang. Said

especially of music.) When we play the

music this time, let’s jazz it up a bit. T I

think we need to jazz up this room. It looks

so drab.

Jekyll and Hyde someone with both an

evil and a good personality. (From the

novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and

Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.)

Bill thinks Mary is so soft and gentle, but

she can be very cruel—she is a real Jekyll

and Hyde. Jane doesn’t know that Fred

is a Jekyll and Hyde. She sees him only

when he is being kind and generous, but he

can be very cruel.

The jig is up. Go to The game is up.

jockey for position to try to push or ma-

neuver one’s way into an advantageous

position at the expense of others. All

the workers in the company are jockeying

for position. They all want the manager’s

job. It is unpleasant working for a com-

pany where people are always jockeying for

position.

jog someone’s memory to stimulate some-

one’s memory to recall something.

Hearing the first part of the song I’d for-

gotten really jogged my memory. I tried

to jog Bill’s memory about our childhood

antics.

Johnny-come-lately someone who joins in

(something) after it is under way. Don’t

pay any attention to Sally. She’s just a

Johnny-come-lately and doesn’t know what

she’s talking about. We’ve been here for

thirty years. Why should some Johnny-

come-lately tell us what to do?

Johnny-on-the-spot someone who is in

the right place at the right time. Here

I am, Johnny-on-the-spot. I told you I

would be here at 12:20. Bill is late again.

You can hardly call him Johnny-on-the-

spot.

join forces (with someone) to unite with

someone. We joined forces with the po-

lice to search for the lost child.  The

choirs joined forces to sing the song.

join hands [for people] to hold hands so

that each person is holding the hands of

two other people; [for two people] to

hold each other’s hands. Let us join

hands and pray together. The dancers

joined hands and formed a circle that

moved to the left.

Join the club! <an expression indicating

that the person spoken to is in the same,

or a similar, unfortunate state as the

speaker.> (Informal.) You don’t have

anyplace to stay? Join the club! Neither do

we. Did you get fired too? Join the club!

joking aside Go to (all) joking aside.

jolt to a start and jolt to a stop to start

or stop moving suddenly, causing a jolt.

The truck jolted to a stop at the stop

sign. The little car jolted to a quick start

and threw the passenger back in his seat.

jolt to a stop Go to jolt to a start.

judge one on one’s own merit(s) to judge

or evaluate one on one’s own achieve-

ments and virtues, not someone else’s.

Please judge me on my own merits, not on

those of my family. You should judge

Sally on her own merit. Forget that her

mother is a famous opera star.

judge something on its own merit(s) to

judge or evaluate a thing on its own good

points and usefulness. You have to

judge each painting on its own merits. Not

every painting by a famous painter is su-

perior. Each rose must be judged on its

own merit.

judging by something considering some-

thing; using something as an indication

(of something else). Judging by your

wet clothing, it must be raining. Judg-

ing by the looks of this house, I would guess

there has been a party here.

juice and cookies trivial and uninterest-

ing snacks or refreshments. (Also literal.)

The party was not much. They might as

well have served juice and cookies. Af-

ter juice and cookies, we all went back into

the meeting room for another hour of talk,

talk, talk.

jump at the chance and jump at the op-

portunity; leap at the opportunity to

eagerly accept the opportunity to do

something. John jumped at the chance

to go to England. I don’t know why I

didn’t jump at the opportunity myself.

I should have leaped at the chance.

jump at the opportunity Go to jump at

the chance.

jump bail and skip bail to fail to appear

in court for trial and give up one’s bail

bond. (Slang.) Not only was Bob ar-

rested for theft, he skipped bail and left

town. He’s in a lot of trouble. I thought

only criminals jumped bail.

jump down someone’s throat Go to jump all

over someone.

jump into the fray Go to join the fray.

jump off the deep end Go to go off the

deep end.

jump on someone Go to jump all over some-

one.

jump on the bandwagon Go to get on the

bandwagon.

jump out of one’s skin to react strongly to

a shock or a surprise. (Informal. Usually

with nearly, almost, etc.) Oh! You really

scared me. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Bill was so startled he almost jumped

out of his skin.

jump the gun to start before the starting

signal. (Originally used in sports contests

that are started by firing a gun.) We all

had to start the race again because Jane

jumped the gun. When we took the test,

Tom jumped the gun and started early.

jump the track 1. [for something] to fall

or jump off the rails or guides. (Usually

said about a train.) The train jumped

the track, causing many injuries to the pas-

sengers. The engine jumped the track,

but the other cars stayed on. 2. to change

suddenly from one thing, thought, plan,

or activity to another. The entire pro-

ject jumped the track, and we finally had

to give up. John’s mind jumped the track

while he was in the play, and he forgot his

lines.

jump through a hoop and jump through

hoops to do everything possible to obey

or please someone; to bend over back-

wards (to do something). (Informal. Trained

animals jump through hoops.) She ex-

pects us to jump through hoops for her.

What do you want me to do—jump

through a hoop?

jump through hoops Go to jump through

a hoop.

jumping-off place Go to jumping-off point.

jumping-off point and jumping-off

place a point or place from which to be-

gin something. The local library is a

logical jumping-off point for your research.

The office job in that company would be

a good jumping-off place for a job in

advertising.

The jury is still out (on someone or some-

thing). A decision has not been reached on

someone or something.; The people mak-

ing the decision on someone or some-

thing have not yet decided. (Also literal.)

The jury is still out on Jane. We don’t

know what we are going to do about her.

The jury is still out on the question of

building a new parking lot.

(just) as I expected I thought so; I knew

it would be this way. Just as I expected.

The window was left open and it rained in.

As I expected, he left work early again.

(just) a stone’s throw away (from some-

thing) Go to within a stone’s throw (of

something).

just in case (something happens) if (some-

thing happens). (Compare this with in

case something happens.) All right. I’ll

take the umbrella just in case it rains.

I’ll take along some aspirin, just in case.

just so 1. in perfect order; neat and tidy.

Her hair is always just so. Their front

yard is just so. 2. (Usually Just so!) Pre-

cisely right!; Quite right! BILL: The let-

ter should arrive tomorrow. TOM: Just so!

JANE: We must always try our best.

MARTIN: Just so!

just the same Go to all the same.

just the same (to someone) Go to all the

same (to someone).

just what the doctor ordered exactly

what is required, especially for health or

comfort. That meal was delicious, Bob.

Just what the doctor ordered.

Would you like something to drink?

MARY: Yes, a cold glass of water would be

just what the doctor ordered.