jimmy

• jemmy (in some senses)

• (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
• (chocolate sprinkles): Unknown. There is much speculation that they were named after Jim Crow, but there is little, if any, evidence to support this theory.

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɪmi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmi

jimmy (plural jimmies)

1. (plural only, dialectal, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Mid-Atlantic US) Sprinkles used as a topping for ice cream, cookies, or cupcakes.

   Synonym: hundreds and thousands (UK)

   chocolate jimmies; rainbow jimmies

   • 2009, Robert B. Parker, The Professional, Berkley Books, published 2010, →ISBN, page 232:

     “What kind of sissy eats strawberry-frosted donuts?” I said. ¶ “With jimmies,” Belson said. ¶ “I had too much respect for you,” I said, “even to mention the jimmies.”

   • 2017 September 22, Suzanne Loudermilk, “Dining review: At Giovanni's, hearty Italian fare and an old-fashioned feel”, in The Baltimore Sun‎, archived from the original on 18 November 2018:

     The crispy pastry tube was overflowing with sweetened, whipped ricotta and dotted with chocolate jimmies.

2. (slang) A marijuana cigarette.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marijuana cigarette

3. (informal) A device used to circumvent a locking mechanism.

   Synonym: slim jim

4. (US) A jemmy; a crowbar used by burglars to open windows and doors.
5. (slang, Royal Navy) First Lieutenant (Executive Officer)
6. (US, slang) A penis.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:penis

   • 1989 October 10, Ice-T (lyrics and music), “The Girl Tried to Kill Me” (track 6), in The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say!, performed by Ice-T:

     And then she said, "Gimme gimme gimme" / Jumped on my jimmy and rode me like the Wild West

   • 2023, “Keep It Simple”, performed by Mika:

     From my Jimmy to my jaw / Every bone and every part of me's aching

7. (US, slang) A condom.

   Synonyms: jimmy cap, jimmy hat; see also Thesaurus:condom

   • 1999, Amy Sohn, Run Catch Kiss, Simon & Schuster, published 2000, →ISBN, page 111:

     We moved to the futon and started fooling around. He rolled on a jimmy and I sat on top of him.

   • 2004, Murad Kalam, Night Journey, Simon & Schuster, published 2004, →ISBN, page 158:

     "The next time you hook up with somebody," Lovie was saying, "you better wear a jimmy, boy. With spermicide on it. […]

8. (slang) Men's underwear.
9. (rare) A male crab, especially a mature male; a cock. (Sometimes capitalized.)

   Coordinate term: sook

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:Jimmy.
10. (US, dialectal) Synonym of coal car.

• Because of their brown color, the apparently false etymology of jimmies having been named after Jim Crow has led some to consider the use of the term jimmies to refer to chocolate sprinkles to be offensive. However, many people who are either unaware of this theory or who agree it is false do not consider this an offensive term.

jimmy (third-person singular simple present jimmies, present participle jimmying, simple past and past participle jimmied)

1. (transitive, informal) To pry (something, especially a lock) open with or as if with a crowbar.
   • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep:

     The kitchen window had been jimmied.

• jemmy

• “jimmy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.