I’m all right, Jack
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Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Kent is the Garden of England (and Chatham is the dustbin in it!)
I was brought up in the Medway Towns (now known as Medway) in Kent at a time when the Army and Royal Navy, including the Royal Navy Dockyard, were significant employers in the local community.
Chatham, often pronounced Cha’am (glottal stops are common in Medway) was a colourful society, stuffed with public houses after the end of the Second World War, because of the great density of workmen. There were between 200 and 280 pubs in the Chatham area.
It was, and still is, home to the Corps of Royal Engineers, and was an important Naval port. Therefore, many of the expressions familiar to me stem from that background, many military, and many more Naval.
Some phrases were blunt to the point of obscenity, but had usually acquired a semblance of gentility by the time they were adopted by the wider populace. Thus, ‘I’m all right, Jack,’ originating from the Royal Navy in the nineteenth century, was usually prefaced with a profanity, which was lost with time and usage.
It’s believed to stem from matelots (Royal Navy sailors) when the last person climbing the ladder up the side of a ship would say, on reaching the deck, ‘Pull up the ladder, Jack, I’m all right.’ In time, this was reversed to become, ‘I’m all right, Jack,’ sometimes followed by ‘Pull up the ladder.’
Out of context, it came to signify a selfish, smug attitude, with scant regard for the well-being of others.
I have only heard it used in jest.
It was also the title of a 1959 comedy, about industrial life and strife in the 1950s, starring Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, Ian Carmichael, Irene Handl, and others.
Another fun post!
ReplyDeleteThis is completely new - and, well, "foreign" to me. ;-) (I have a feeling that, now that I found your blog, I will be spending much more time with Professor Google.)
ReplyDeleteIrene Handl! Brilliant actor and comic and wonderful novelist, too. A talent powerhouse.
ReplyDeleteThe coat of arms is stunning.
ReplyDeleteThe Corps of Royal Engineers represented a very important representative of the British Empire during WW2. My father started engineering in 1939, too young to enlist but confident about the importance of his profession once he joined up in 1943. He was correct.
ReplyDeleteMy father trained at HMS Chatham during the war.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the NZ phrase 'she'll be right Jake' came from the Jack saying. I wouldn't be surprised
Nice to know where that came from.
ReplyDeleteI've heard it in several old school rap songs (we're talking 1978 to 1983 here) and always wondered who Jack was supposed to be, when there was no more mention of him in the rest of the lyrics!
ReplyDeleteA very familiar phrase to me but I had never thought about its origins. Thank you.
ReplyDelete