herky-jerky

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Adjective

herky-jerky (comparative more herky-jerky, superlative most herky-jerky)

  1. (Canada, US, informal) Having an irregular spasmodic movement.
    • 2006, CMJ New Music Monthly:
      While all that herky-jerky mathcore in your collection might not fit the bill, put some Portishead on your Pod and the attached OhMiBod will respond rhythmically in kind.
    • 2013, Bruce R. Swinburne, Stem: Cells That Divide, page 271:
      Lynn has learned the herky-jerky schedule of the university. She has learned about me, and how I respond to its quirks—like a river flowing with hiccups.
    • 2014 June 5, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Edge Of Tomorrow puts Tom Cruise through an action-packed Groundhog Day”, in AV Club‎[1]:
      The resulting battlefield is a surface of rough textures, lumbering machines, and brutalist geometric lines, broken up only by the movement of the Mimics, whose herky-jerky darting resembles sped-up stop-motion.
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