Useful Scots word: jag

It’s that time of year again when the relatively stricken in years or those with potential respiratory problems are advised to get a vaccination against the dreaded flu. Most of us do not use the word vaccination or even injection. We opt for something more informal, perhaps to make the experience sound less medical and so less scary

In English this informal equivalent is the word jab, the same word that is used to describe a short sharp punching movement of the kind used in boxing. As is often the case, the Scots word for vaccination or injection is nearer the mark, so to speak.

The word is jag and it somehow describes the sharp and sometimes painful experience of vaccination more aptly. A jab may sound painful but it does not capture the piercing effect of the needle sinking into flesh.

Jag in Scots has been around a lot longer than the process of vaccination. It came into being in the very early 16th century meaning to pierce, later coming to mean also to feel pain resulting from being pierced with something sharp. In origin, it is probably descriptive of the action involved in piercing.

The noun equivalent was originally used to refer to a thorn or prickle, as of our emblematic thistle, or anything else which pierces or stings. It is also used to describe the action of piercing or stabbing with a sharp instrument like the needle on a hypodermic syringe.

Incidentally, as many of you will know, jag’s connection with thistles has led to football teams containing the word Thistle being nicknamed the Jags. Best-known of these is Partick Thistle.

From jag comes the adjective jaggy or jaggie, meaning prickly, piercing or sharp-pointed. It is used of obviously prickly things such as thistles and barbed wire is known as jaggy wire. However, nettles are also frequently referred to as jaggy because of the painful stings that they impart to bare limbs.

Jag is one of those Scots words that do not obviously reveal their origins. It does not sound Scots and many people may use it without realising that it is Scots. In fact, the word jag does exist in English but with different meanings. It can refer to a sharp projection like a piece of rock and from this comes jagged, meaning with rough, pointed, often sharp edges.

English jag can also refer to a short period of time spent over-indulging in a particular activity such as shopping or weeping. This sense often relates to a period of time spent downing excessive quantities of alcohol, as when binge-drinking.

In this alcoholic respect, English jag has a connection with Scots jag which, apart from the meanings already given, can mean a shot of alcohol. Some people with a needle phobia may feel the need of such a jag before going for their flu jag. If so, it might be wise to suck a strong mint sweet before breathing over the doctor or nurse wielding the needle.

this isn't the end of the series

Now that's how you finish a season! If only the series had started off this strong, we might not be staring likely cancellation in the face.

I was absolutely riveted throughout "No Ordinary Beginning." Everything the season had been building towards came to a head, including the first family power team up. Finally, each of the Powells had a moment to prove formidable in his or her own right, from Daphne's near-mental throwdown of a particularly stubborn guard to Stephanie speed thrashing a room full of armed sentries to J.J.'s geometrically correct toss of a hypodermic needle into the eye of his father's would-be killer.


J.J. in particular showed himself to have his father's fortitude when standing up to GlobalTech CEO Helen Burton the way he did. Though I can't suppose it would take super intelligence to feel superior to someone so out of touch that she actually brought in circa 1981 video games, including Centipede, to entertain a 15 year child of today.

The final showdown between King and Jim was epic, and one I'd been waiting for all season. Dr. King's revelation that he can't die, thanks to the trusty trilsettum, came as no surprise as I've been touting he had some kind of ability all season. What was a surprise, though, was that he had developed every ability that the Powells possess. A little convenient, but Stephen Collins demonstrated here, more than ever, that he makes for one menacing villain so I'm not going to quibble over something so minor.

If this isn't the end of the series, it definitely appears to be the end of King (I see no way he can come back from a skull-rotting bout of insta-cancer) so I take my hat off to Mr. Collins for chewing every morsel of every scene he had all season. Well done, sir.

The ending definitely set things up for what could be an enticing second season, with George developing an unrevealed ability of his own after that plane crash (what do you want to bet it's flight?) and the eighty some odd criminals all with now-permanent powers.

I don't know about you, but having the Powells providing support to the government as they hunt down these super villains definitely entices me, even if we didn't exactly find out how the NSA came to know of their abilities in the first place. And despite the earlier hinting of a possible George/Katie romance, I'd actually like to see Katie and Joshua as they attempt to raise a super-powered baby.

Should the ride end here, I'll be sorely, bitterly disappointed. No Ordinary Family started out a story of a family who had lost their connection, but ended with them stronger than ever before, proving that no challenge is too strong for any family to endure, as long as they have faith in one other...and, of course, a measure of super abilities don't hurt.

Whatever happens,  I have to say I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the Powells and seeing their journey this season. I applaud the work done by Michael Chiklis, Julie Benz, Kay Panabaker, Jimmy Bennett, Stephen Collins, Autumn Reeser, Romany Malco, Josh Stewart, Rebecca Mader, Lucy Lawless and everyone else involved in the series.

Here's hoping for a season two.