| 词汇 | jay hawk |
| 词源 | Jay Hawk. This word for a Kansan may come from the nick- name of a “Doc” Jennison, who led a regiment of Kansas Free State men in the years preceding the Civil War. It is said that abolitionist Jennison, “a frolicsome immigrant from New York State,” was called Gay Yorker, and that the name was naturally applied to his band as well. Even the pro-slavers, at least Quantrill’s raiders, were eventually called Jayhawkers in Kan- sas, as were all residents of the Jayhawk State in time. The transformation from Gay Yorker to Jayhawker does seem un- likely, though, and can at best be regarded as doubtful. Since Jayhawker was also 19th-century slang for a bandit, I would hazard that the word has something to do with the quarrel- some, thieving blue jay and the warlike hawk. Or perhaps there really was a rapacious jay hawk bird, as someone has suggested but nobody has ever confirmed. |
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