Jerkwater common?

[Maudland]

Hello,

Jerkwater was the word that used all the letters in a 7-by-many letter puzzle in the Your Puzzles section.

It's not the first time I haven't found the key word, but I would never have found this one! The definitions are U.S. historical and U.S. colloquial, so perhaps it should be re-classified as a rare word? Otherwise it could come up in a 9-letter puzzle when it really doesn't seem to fit the 'common' category.

 

Thanks,
Madeleine

[pat]

Unknown to me.

[Ozzyjack]

It's a pity Woop Woop isn't one word.  I guess we'll have to settle for Boondock.

[Katzmeow]

Jerkwater?  Never heard of it. 

Woop woop & boondock I have, though I've only heard boondocks, not singular.

[yelnats]

Never heard of Jerkwater. But BackoBurke isjustoneword, isn'tit?

[ensiform]

Never heard of it, but I might start using it as an insult.  Be quiet, ya jerkwater!  So American.

[Alan W]

I don't know how this word came to be classed as common, but there's no danger of it coming up in a 9-letter puzzle. Not every "common" word is available as the seed word of a 9-letter puzzle, and that applies to jerkwater. Of course it could come up in a 10-letter puzzle if there's a 10-letter word using these letters, but I doubt it.

There could be quite a few surprises awaiting us in the 7-by-many puzzles, in the form of words that might be badly labeled but have never shown themselves in any puzzles before.

[Valerie]

Oh, what fun!!!!   

[Maudland]

Now you've got me thinking of 10-letter words that could contain it! That'll keep me quiet for a while...

[Alan W]

I've now made jerkwater a rare word.

[Maudland]

Thanks, Alan.

I'm still waiting for an opportunity to use it. But I love the way Chi extends my vocabulary in unexpected directions!