Saturday, March 3, 2012

Cracker Jacks/Cracker Jack: Common Errors in English Usage Entry for Saturday, March 3, 2012

Cracker Jacks/Cracker Jack
“Crackerjack” is an old slang expression meaning “excellent,” and the official name of the popcorn confection is also singular: “Cracker Jack.” People don’t pluralize its rival Poppycock as “Poppycocks,” but they seem to think of the individual popped kernels as the “jacks.” A similarly named candy is “Good and Plenty.” All three have descriptive names describing qualities and shouldn’t be pluralized. A way to remember this: in “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” “Cracker Jack” rhymes with “back.”

No comments:

Post a Comment