"Whispering Jack" meaning in English

See Whispering Jack in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

Etymology: Most famously associated with singer Whispering Jack Smith (1898-1950), but in earlier use as a nickname. Head templates: {{en-proper noun|head=Whispering Jack}} Whispering Jack
  1. (informal) A person who vocalizes quietly, in a whispering manner, or, ironically, one who is loud and outspoken. Tags: informal Related terms: Alibi Ike, Dapper Dan, doubting Thomas, gloomy Gus, good-time Charlie, nervous Nellie, plain Jane, Silent Sam
    Sense id: en-Whispering_Jack-en-name-n4hY1oZ6 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry
{
  "etymology_text": "Most famously associated with singer Whispering Jack Smith (1898-1950), but in earlier use as a nickname.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "Whispering Jack"
      },
      "expansion": "Whispering Jack",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1879 Jan., \"A Night with Burglars\" in Gleason's Monthly Companion, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 281 (Google preview)",
          "text": "The two who sat at a table in an obscure corner of the room were the noted burglars \"Whispering Jack\" and \"Jim the Cracksman,\" as they were nick-named by their associates."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1981 March 8, John S. Wilson, “Barbara Cook—Pop and Polish”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-07-27:",
          "text": "[T]he microphone enabled a Whispering Jack Smith to make a rhythmic mumble pass for singing and gave Bing Crosby a means of taking advantage of his casual, intimate style.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, J. John Loughran, Developing Reflective Practice, →ISBN, page 136:",
          "text": "Case 3 Whispering Jack: Jack was a quiet and perceptive young man who was well respected by his peers.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, Ray Scott, Street Justice, →ISBN, page 55:",
          "text": "Under the lone operating streetlight, Whispering Jack comes into full view. . . . In his usual low tone, . . . Jack speaks in the manner that earned him his nickname.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005 December 28, “John Travis Garrett”, in ancestry.com, retrieved 2014-07-27:",
          "text": "Some referred to him as \"Whispering Jack\" for his booming voice while many others called him Pappy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 2009, B. J. Sears, “Reddington's Phonelescope”, in Professor Sears' Technological Rarities, retrieved 2014-07-27:",
          "text": "Whispering Jack Reddington graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1899 and began his career as a mining engineer. His real passion however, was the transmission and amplification of sound waves.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who vocalizes quietly, in a whispering manner, or, ironically, one who is loud and outspoken."
      ],
      "id": "en-Whispering_Jack-en-name-n4hY1oZ6",
      "links": [
        [
          "vocalize",
          "vocalize"
        ],
        [
          "quiet",
          "quiet"
        ],
        [
          "ironic",
          "ironic"
        ],
        [
          "loud",
          "loud"
        ],
        [
          "outspoken",
          "outspoken"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) A person who vocalizes quietly, in a whispering manner, or, ironically, one who is loud and outspoken."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "Alibi Ike"
        },
        {
          "word": "Dapper Dan"
        },
        {
          "word": "doubting Thomas"
        },
        {
          "word": "gloomy Gus"
        },
        {
          "word": "good-time Charlie"
        },
        {
          "word": "nervous Nellie"
        },
        {
          "word": "plain Jane"
        },
        {
          "word": "Silent Sam"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Whispering Jack"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "Most famously associated with singer Whispering Jack Smith (1898-1950), but in earlier use as a nickname.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "Whispering Jack"
      },
      "expansion": "Whispering Jack",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Alibi Ike"
    },
    {
      "word": "Dapper Dan"
    },
    {
      "word": "doubting Thomas"
    },
    {
      "word": "gloomy Gus"
    },
    {
      "word": "good-time Charlie"
    },
    {
      "word": "nervous Nellie"
    },
    {
      "word": "plain Jane"
    },
    {
      "word": "Silent Sam"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proper nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1879 Jan., \"A Night with Burglars\" in Gleason's Monthly Companion, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 281 (Google preview)",
          "text": "The two who sat at a table in an obscure corner of the room were the noted burglars \"Whispering Jack\" and \"Jim the Cracksman,\" as they were nick-named by their associates."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1981 March 8, John S. Wilson, “Barbara Cook—Pop and Polish”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-07-27:",
          "text": "[T]he microphone enabled a Whispering Jack Smith to make a rhythmic mumble pass for singing and gave Bing Crosby a means of taking advantage of his casual, intimate style.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, J. John Loughran, Developing Reflective Practice, →ISBN, page 136:",
          "text": "Case 3 Whispering Jack: Jack was a quiet and perceptive young man who was well respected by his peers.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, Ray Scott, Street Justice, →ISBN, page 55:",
          "text": "Under the lone operating streetlight, Whispering Jack comes into full view. . . . In his usual low tone, . . . Jack speaks in the manner that earned him his nickname.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005 December 28, “John Travis Garrett”, in ancestry.com, retrieved 2014-07-27:",
          "text": "Some referred to him as \"Whispering Jack\" for his booming voice while many others called him Pappy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 2009, B. J. Sears, “Reddington's Phonelescope”, in Professor Sears' Technological Rarities, retrieved 2014-07-27:",
          "text": "Whispering Jack Reddington graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1899 and began his career as a mining engineer. His real passion however, was the transmission and amplification of sound waves.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who vocalizes quietly, in a whispering manner, or, ironically, one who is loud and outspoken."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "vocalize",
          "vocalize"
        ],
        [
          "quiet",
          "quiet"
        ],
        [
          "ironic",
          "ironic"
        ],
        [
          "loud",
          "loud"
        ],
        [
          "outspoken",
          "outspoken"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) A person who vocalizes quietly, in a whispering manner, or, ironically, one who is loud and outspoken."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Whispering Jack"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-09-22 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-09-20 using wiktextract (af5c55c and 66545a6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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