jog [E16th] One of the most visible changes in society since the 1960s has been the number of joggers pounding round the streets. Few joggers will be aware that the original meaning of jog was ‘to nudge, shake’. The word is related to jag, originally ‘to stab, pierce’, as in jagged [LME], and in Scotland and northern England to jag is still ‘to prick’. The ‘shake’ sense developed into to move as if shaken [L16th], hence ‘to walk or ride in a heavy or jolting way, trudge’. To jog the memory is early 17th century.