etymology of jakeneck

i'm often asked what jakeneck means, and find myself having to retell the same story in different conversations on- and off-line time and time again. therefore i've decided to provide an accurate etymology of the phrase here so that i can refer to it henceforth and not need to type it out ever again. hope you enjoy...

jakeneck is a phrase that was coined by the very same man who divined "the 44" synchronicity (a parallel to wsb & raw's 23), as well as the often employed euphemisms "your aunt," "necknose," and "auntneck"—a man named eric halpin, from our home town of new milford, nj.

having a great affinity for hip hop music, eric enjoys a diverse array of rap, including many artists who are either sunni muslims, factologists, or members of the 5% nation of islam, aka the nation of gods & earths. one of the greatest cultural contributions of these black american muslims is their slang, which has strongly influenced the modern ebonic dialect (which i still personally refuse to negate the value of, despite various attempts by my colleagues to convince me otherwise) and which has frequently been co-opted by white america.

one key phrase that has made it into popular language—at least within the black community—is "jake." most often used to refer to police officers, the term can be found in quite a number of rap songs—particularly those of wu-tang clan and a tribe called quest.

aiyyo, we at the weedgate, waitin for jake
we want eight ravioli bags, two thirsty villians yelling bellyaches
—"one," ghostface killah

he lost like a hundred ounces, jake rushed his houses
had him on the porch, ass no trousers
—"cash still rules/scary hours," wu-tang

then skate to the next state
further upstate, i heard they got crazy weight
bagged up by the gates and crazy like disco breaks
yo look out for jakes
—"knuckleheadz," raekwon the chef

[siren] whoops, looka there, there's jake
—"jam lyrics," a tribe called quest

see, jake be gettin illy when the sun get dark
they be comin out the heads, but shit don't let me start
—"midnight," a tribe called quest

cuz i'll break your face, have your ass runnin'
mumblin to the jake, you goin' against me dawg you makin a mistake
—"patiently waiting," 50 cent

while the origins of the term "jake" itself are somewhat unknown, some prevalent theories exist. first, the obvious: jack nicholson's detective character in the film chinatown, jake gittes. also, there was the detective character on the television show "jake and the fat man," jake styles. more convincing (and disturbing), however, is the following theory:

in the old testament book of genesis, jacob conspires to steal the blessing of his father isaac from his brother esau, and in doing so, goes on to father the nation of israel. thus it would make sense that in 19th century french slang, the word "jake" means "one who conspires against you." that being said, it would also make sense that in the modern vernacular, it would carry the same meaning, particularly when referring to the police, as they are conspiring to break up any illegal activities being committed by the "gangsta-living" types oft depicted in rap music. but this definition isn't entirely innocent either. in the heart of brooklyn, jews have incurred the use of the word "jake" as a derogatory remark directed towards them by black muslims. why? because jews are the children of "the original conspirator," and in a world prone to oversimplification via conspiracy theory, they are a convenient target for a resentment now corroborated by "biblical evidence."

regardless, in his ignorance of this unfortunate fact, eric took the term jake to refer to police, and moreso, to any generally shady bastard. in that, people whom he did not trust came to be known as "jakes," "jakely," "jakish," and ultimately as "jakenecks."

here's where the "neck" comes in: another modern slang phrase often heard in the late 1990s, particularly in reference to the consumption of drugs and alcohol, is "take it to the neck." if, for example, i had a 40 oz. of old english, and i drank the whole bottle in a rather short duration of time, i "took that shit to the neck." if i smoked a blunt, all by myself, i again, "took it to the neck." perhaps the term refers to the motion of cocking one's head back to tilt a 40 oz. bottle, thus exposing the neck. either way, it is what it is.

thus, in conjunction with "jake," a "jakeneck" is a person who takes their "jakliness" "to the neck." in otherwords, they are a shady-ass bastard.

the domain jakeneck.com was originally purchased while i still lived in new milford, and launched as a weblog which was to focus particularly on exposing conspiracies and shady behavior on the part of political figures. and tho the project laid dormant for quite some time, the fact that it's predecessor, shtv, evolved into the current jakeneck you see before you, is no surprise to me, nor anyone else around since its inception—namely, myself, p boogie & jake lee o'shady, the original fo'fo clan. the site is simply living up to its potential—a manifest destiny if you will. anyway, you've got to start to wonder who the real jakes are here...is it the people we're writing about in our posts, or is it us, the posters? that is for you to determine...muahahahahaha!

anyhow, the private joke is now out of the box. use at your discretion.