Jackanapes
grip at netcom.com
grip at netcom.com
Mon Feb 10 17:37:11 CST 1997
My Oxford traces it back to 1450 as a reference to the Duke of Suffolk.
His badge was an ape's clog and chain. "clog (3)" is a block of wood used
to impede an animal's movement. It doesn't say if the Duke's name was
Jack Napes or if that was a name for a trained monkey he owned.
I'm not sure how this could be a racial slur, but then anything if used
in a particular tone of voice can become a slur. Consider the L word, for
instance...
grip
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