Feb 12 2013
Jigger : One Word 28 Meanings
Jigger has 28 different meanings in English
When we translate we often asked clients for reference material or examples so we can understand the context of the translation, but what exactly does this mean?
OK, lets consider the following sentence:
“If the jigger seems to be broken, replace it immediately. We recommend type 2 jiggers marked in blue in our catalog.“
What does that mean? Jigger is a really amazing world in English.
Jigger can be:
- A Handcar, a hand-operated railway car
- A jigger flea or chigoe flea, a parasitic arthropod found in tropical climates that may cause an inflammatory skin disease
- A Liverpool term for an ‘alleyway’
- A pallet jack
- A Surveyors Total Station (electronic theodolite)
- A tool for setting fish gill nets under ice, made of wood and metal and operated via rope from the surface
- In golf, an old metal golf club with a narrow face
- A rest for a billiard cue
- A miner who sorts or cleans ore by the process of jigging. One who jigs
- The actual sieve used in jigging ore
- An Irish dancer – Dancer of jigs and reels
- In textiles, it’s a device used in the dyeing of cloth
- In pottery, the horizontal lathe used in producing flatware
- A pendulum rolling machine for slicking or graining leather
- A light all-purpose tackle
- A small sail set in the stern of a yawl or similar boat
- A boat having such a sail
- A jigger mast
- A small fishing vessel, rigged like a yawl
- Any of a number of mechanical devices having a vibratory or jerking motion
- A type of hydraulic lift in which a hydraulic ram operates the lift through a block and tackle which increases the length of the stroke
- A device or thing the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten
- A small tackle consisting of a double and single block with a rope
- A small glass, esp for whisky, with a capacity of about one and a half ounces
- A cigarette
- A gadget
Verb:
- To alter or adjust, particularly in ways not originally intended.
- Rearrange or tamper with: conventional price indexes often jigger the market basket’s content
That’s 28 different meanings before we discuss slang. There are some slang terms for the word.
So the learning is that from a simple word you can have many different meanings. It’s impossible to translate the original sentence we quoted without knowing the context of what you are talking about. Next time you’re working with a translation agency or an advertising company for your products make sure you give them pictures, diagrams and background information to your project so they get the correct translation or interpretation for you first time and every time.
At STAR we specialize in technical translation and we have our own dictionary management systems for every client and industry they work in. Terminology management is the cornerstone for quality, professional translation.
