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Jaywalking is a portmanteau of jay and walking. Jay (archaic colloquial) itself means:

Applied to humans in sense of "impertinent chatterer, flashy dresser" from 1620s. […] Jay was slang for "fourth-rate, worthless" (1888) e.g. a jay town.

a fourth-rate, worthless walker.

(inspired by the jay bicyclists we almost mowed down this morning. source: Online Etymology Dictionary)

posted on friday january 14th, 2011 at 21:36 (PST)