The REAL origin of the term Jack the Ripper ?

[Rubyretro]

Well, here I just was trawling through sites looking for images of Victorian groom's knives ,for a PM to see if the measurements would agree or not with the victim's wounds..and all of a sudden the most horrible shiver ran through Me and I had to sit back.;

Those 'typical' folding knives used by horse men and hunters were known as
'JACK knives' (it shouldn't have been a surprise because they were known as that well into the 20th century -although I think of them as 'Switch Blades'-
and of couse the term 'To Jack Knife' has passed into the language concerning traffic accidents with articulated lorries etc.

The penny suddenly dropped for me though that 'Jack' in the letter, is not referring to a person, but the actual knife itself.

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi all, the term 'Jack the Ripper' probably came about because of John/Jack Pizer and the fact that 'Rip' as in 'Rip her up' was an extremely common term of the time. The name was ingenius, but quite simple in its construction.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Rubyretro]

I really don't know anything anymore Tom..as you will know from the Dear Boss thread, I've never believed in the letters one bit..I might have to think again though, about 'Dear Boss'..

Of course the terms Rip and 'Rip her Up' surely come from the root that you say ..

But I think that Jack' may very well come from 'Jack Knife', and if ever 'Dear Boss' DID come from the killer -which I'm dubious about, but will now spend alot more attention on it. IF it did, then that has some important implications for us
..one it would tell us the type of knife used in the murder
..and it would tell us that JtR personified that knife and deplaced the acts of murder onto the knife, and didn't take full responsibility for his acts himself.
..it would hint that he was obsessed with the knife, and his using it, rather than an obsession with his victims...

just some immediate thoughts..

ps If 'Dear Boss' came from the killer, then he wanted the fame and glory of the murders..why would he want to deplace them onto John Pizer -who had been discounted anyway ? Of course if Dear Boss isa fake, then that is another matter, and it may be so..

[Chris]

Hi all, the term 'Jack the Ripper' probably came about because of John/Jack Pizer and the fact that 'Rip' as in 'Rip her up' was an extremely common term of the time.

It seems unlikely to me that Pizer was the inspiration for the name, considering that he had been officially cleared a fortnight before the appearance of the "Dear Boss" letter (and was only rarely referred to as 'Jack' rather than 'John').

[Tom_Wescott]

He was cleared how many days before Sept. 25th?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Doctor Llewellyn had thoughts on the subject of jack knives.

The Times, 1st September 1888–



Regards,

Simon

[Tom_Wescott]

Seriously, I've forgotten how long a fortnight is. It's not a word we use at all in America. People tell me from time to time, but I always forget.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[lynn cates]

fortnight

Hello Tom. A fortnight is 2 weeks.

Cheers.
LC

[corey123]

Hello All,

I may be wrong but I remember reading once that "Jack" was the same as the modern day term of "John Doe"?

[Chris]

Pizer was released on 11 September, Aaron Kozminski's birthday. ("Fortnight" is short for "Fourteen nights.")

[Tom_Wescott]

Thanks for that. But what day did Pizer appear at the Chapman inquest to publicly clear himself?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Chris]

Thanks for that. But what day did Pizer appear at the Chapman inquest to publicly clear himself?

The following day, the 12 September.

(Or according to the A-Z, the following month, the 11 October.)

[The Grave Maurice]

You know, I was really looking forward to the arrival of the new A-Z. Now, not so much. It's a sad day in Ripperdom when it becomes increasingly obvious that three of our brightest stars should have employed the services of a fact-checker prior to publishing.

[Chris]

You know, I was really looking forward to the arrival of the new A-Z. Now, not so much. It's a sad day in Ripperdom when it becomes increasingly obvious that three of our brightest stars should have employed the services of a fact-checker prior to publishing.

Or, should not have rejected those services when they were offered ...

[Rubyretro]

Just to say, that waking up this morning, I'm no longer covinced by 'Jack the Knife' at all ! ..what a shame, it felt so lovely to have 'discovered' something for all of five minutes !

I am not convinced by 'Dear Boss' anyhow...