Jagoff or jag-off is an American English derogatory slang term from Pittsburghese meaning a person who is stupid or inept. It is most prominent in the Pittsburgh area. The Dictionary of American Regional English defines the term as a "general term of disparagement". It is an archetypical Pittsburgh word, conjuring feelings of delight among Pittsburgh expatriates. According to Barbara Johnstone, professor of English and linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, the term has its roots in the northern British Isles, an area that supplied many immigrants to Pittsburgh. It is derived from the verb "to jag". which means "to prick or poke". Johnstone said that among local Pittsburghers, "Nobody thinks of these derivatives of 'jag' as obscene", though non-local fellow Americans often mishear "jagoff" as the much more offensive slang term "jack off".
The term was often used by Michael Keaton, a native of the Pittsburgh region, in many of his early films, most notably Night Shift and Gung Ho. The term was used in the 2010 Denzel Washington film Unstoppable as a nod to the fact that the movie was filmed in Pittsburgh. The term was used in Martin Scorsese'sCasino in a scene where a hitman referred to a target as a jag-off. The target was killed in a series of assassinations that took place to silence people that might have testified against mob bosses that skimmed said casino in movie. The term was used multiple times by characters in Magnolia Pictures' Buffaloed.
Television
SNL writer/actor Seth Meyers, the son of a Pittsburgh native, used the term and a Pittsburghese accent during a sketch entitled "Bar" in which he also performed a Bill Cowher impression. The term was used on Final Spaceseason one, episode seven. The artificial intelligence, H.U.E., states that "KVN is a jag-off, Gary." The term was used in season one, episode twelve of The Good Place, where character Eleanor Shellstrop says to an activist outside a grocery store, "look what you made me do, jagoff." The term was used by character Rick Sanchez in the cartoon Rick and Morty, season three, episode eight.
Controversies over the term
In 2010, Pittsburgh-native and coach of the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, John Calipari raised hackles in the media when he jokingly referred to fellow Pittsburgher John Buccigross as a "jagoff". In 2012, David Shribman, a Massachusetts native and executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, issued a letter banning the use of the word "jagoff" anywhere in the newspaper. The decision was mocked by Chris Potter of the Pittsburgh City Paper, noting that Shribman's letter belied an utter lack of understanding of the actual etymology and history of the word, as he had confused it with the more base homophone, "jack off", common slang for masturbation. In response The Beaver County Times used some form of the term 19 times in a single article, suggesting that Shribman has "Jagoffphobia".
