Chapter John of Hexham to Jormungandar of J by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Joint The times are out of joint. The times are disquiet and unruly. If the body is out of joint it cannot move easily, and so is it with the body corporate

Jolly A sailor's nickname for a marine, who, in his opinion, bears the same relation to a "regular" as a jolly-boat or yawl does to a ship. (Danish, jollë, a yawl.)

Jolly Dog (A). A bon vivant. Here "jolly" means jovial.

Jolly God (The). Bacchus. The Bible speaks of wine which "maketh glad the heart of man." Here "jolly" means jovial.

Jolly Good Fellow (A). A very social and popular person. (French, joli.)

"Ali was jolly quiet at Ephesus before St. Paul came thither." - John Trapp: Commentary (1656).

"For he's a jolly good fellow [three times].
And so say all of us,
With a hip, hip, hip, hoora!"

Jolly Green Very simple; easily imposed upon, from being without worldly wisdom.

Jolly Roger (The). (See Roger .)

Jollyboat A small boat usually hoisted at the stern of a ship. (Danish, jollë; Dutch, jol; Swedish, jullë, a yawl.)

Jonah and the Whale Mr. Colbert, Professor of Astronomy in Chicago, in a chapter on "Star Grouping," tells us that the whale referred to is the star-group "Cetus," and that Jonah is the "Moon passing through it in three days and nights."

Jonas in Dryden's satire of Absalom and Achitophel, is meant for Sir William Jones, Attorney-General, who conducted the prosecution of the Popish Plot (June 25th, 1674); not the great Oriental scholar, who lived 1746-1794. The attorney-general was called in the satire Jonas by a palpable pun.

"Not bull-faced Jonas, who could statutes draw
To mean rebellion and make treason law."
Dryden: Absalom and Achitophel, part i. 520, 521.

Jonathan Brother Jonathan. In the revolutionary war, Washington, being in great want of supplies for the army, and having unbounded confidence in his friend, Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut, said, "We must consult brother Jonathan." Brother Jonathan was consulted on all occasions by the American liberator, and the phrase becoming popular was accepted as the national name of the Americans as a people.

Jonathan and David In 1 Sam. xviii. 4 we read that Jonathan (the king's son) "stripped himself of his robe and gave it to David, with his sword, bow, and girdle." This was a mark of honour, as princes and sovereigns nowadays strip themselves of a chain or a ring, which they give to one they delight to honour. In 1519 the Sultan Selim, desirous of showing honour to an imaum of Constantinople, threw his royal robe over him.

Jonathan's A noted coffee-house in Change Alley, described in the Tatler as the general mart of stock- jobbers.
    What is now called the Stock Exchange was called Jonathan's.

"Yesterday the brokers and others ... came to a resolution that [the new building] instead of being called `New Jonathan's,' should be called `The Stock Exchange.' ... The brokers then collected sixpence each, and christened the house with punch." - Newspaper paragraph (July 15, 1773).

Jonathan's Arrows They were shot to give warning, and not to hurt. (1 Sam. xx. 36.)

"If the husband would reprove his wife, it should be in such a mood as if he did chide himself; and his words like Jonathan's arrows, should be shot, not to hurt, but only to give warning." - Le Fanu: The House