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JAUNT,
to ramble, make an excursion. (Scand.) It is clear from the
exx. in Shak. that jaunt and jaunce are equivalent terms.
Jaunt is a
wild and fatiguing ramble, Romeo, ii. 5. 26; where another reading is jaunce.
It also means to ramble, rove, id. ii. 5. 53, where another reading for jaunting
is jauncing. A. It is easier to trace jaunce first. Shak.
has: 'Spurred, galled, and tired by jauncing Bolingbroke,' i.e.
hard-riding Bolingbroke. This jaunce is from O.F. jancer, of which
Cotgrave says: 'Jancer vn cheval, 'to stirre a horse in the stable till he
be swart with-all, or as our jaunt; an old word.' This O.F. jancer,
to play tricks with or tease a horse, is from the same source as jaunt, as will
appear. β. The proper sense of jaunt is to play tricks, play the
fool, hence to talk wildly, and hence, to ramble, rove. This appears
from Lowland Sc. jaunt, to taunt, to jeer; whence the frequentative form jaunder,
to talk idly, to converse in a roving way; whence to jaunder about, to go about
idly from place to place, without any object (Jamieson). Of Scand.
origin.—Swed. dial. ganta, to play the buffoon, to romp, sport, jest;
gantas, to jest; cf. O. Swed. gantas, to toy; see Rietz and Ihre. So
also Dan. dial. gantast, to jest (Aasen). This Swed. dial. ganta is
from the sb. gant, a fool, buffoon; from the adj. gan, droll (Rietz).
Cf. Icel. gan, frenzy, frantic gestures. ¶ It will thus be seen that
the form jaunt (also written jant) came to us directly from the Scandinavian,
whilst the form jaunce came to us mediately through the French, causing the
change from t to c. [†]
ADDENDA
Wedgewood contests the
etymology given, being unable to trace the connection between 'jolting,' which
he takes to be the sense of jaunce, and 'playing tricks,' as seen in the
Swed. ganta. He rightly adduces the Norfolk jounce,
'to bounce, thump, and jolt, as rough-riders are wont to do.' The
fact is, that my treatment of the word is rather inadequate than
wrong. There are clear traces of two parallel Teutonic bases GANT
and GAMP, both with the sense of 'to act as a buffoon.' It was the
business of a buffoon both to jest in words, and to use violent, ungainly
motions, bobs, and jerks (which must have been tiring exercise) for the
amusement of the spectators. Of these bases, GAMP (which I take to
be a better form than GAMB, as in Fick) is mentioned under Jump
(1); but much is omitted. Not only is it related to the words there
mentioned, but it is the source of Bavar. gumpen, gumpeln, meaning not
only to jump about (as already said), but, actively, to toss about, to pump
water, the underlying idea being that of violent motion; Schmeller, i. 914; gumpend,
gumpig, active, waggish; gumpelknecht, a fool; gumpelman, a
buffoon, id. 915. But the great variety of senses is much more
remarkably exemplified in Lowl. Sc. jaumph, commoner as jamph, 'to
make game of, sneer, mock, shuffle, jilt, trifle, spend time idly, walk slowly
or idly (Banffsh.); also to tire, fatigue, chafe, destroy by jogging or
friction, to drive to difficulties, to travel with difficulty, as one trudging
through mire;' Jamieson. Also jamphle, jamfle, 'to
shuffle in walking,' id. Cf. also G. gimpel, a fool,
blockhead; Swed. dial. gamp, a fool, droll (Rietz). When we
remember the tricks of the old buffoons, we can understand why Swed. gump
means the posteriors, whilst the Swed. dial. gimpa or gumpa, means
to wriggle with the gump; cf. Dan. gumpe, to jolt, gimpe,
to see-saw. Here is ample evidence as to how 'playing tricks' is
consistent with violent action. β. But a parallel form GANT also
appears in Swed. dial. ganta, gantas, already cited; Dan. gante, a fool; Lowl.
Sc. jaunt, jaunder, already cited; and we can hardly disconnect these from the
base GANK, as seen in Lowl. Sc. jink, 'to dodge, cheat, trick, to make a quick
turn, move nimbly, move quickly (as a fiddle bow), to dance, spend time idly,'
Jamieson; where we again remark the wide range of senses. So also
Lowl. Sc. jinker, a sprightly girl, a wag, a horse that turns quickly; jank, to
trifle (synonymous with jamph), jankit, fatigued, jaded; and perhaps even
jouk,
to shift the body aside quickly, to shift. It is clearly to the
Scand. dialects that we should turn for the word, and esp. for the Scotch
forms. Note that Palsgrave has the form gaunce (apparently with a
hard g), in the sense to ride a horse hard. Cf. also North of E.
jant, merry (Halliwell); and high-jinks, a fling, frolic.
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