Social Question

janbb's avatar

Have you noticed more and more people using the Briticism "jab" for shot or inoculation lately?

Asked by janbb (63219points) March 15th, 2021

It often seems like we Americans are still trying to be trendy by imitating the Brits. I first noticed the use of “jab” for shot from one of our UK members but now I am seeing it all over the media and even by friends.

I am amused by the way we co-opt usage from other countries.

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24 Answers

elbanditoroso's avatar

Easier to say:

jab – 3 letters, one syllable
shot – 4 letters one syllable
inoculation – 11 letters – 4 syllables
vaccine – 7 letters – 2 syllables

People go for the simplest. It’s human nature.

One thing that the inoculators ought to think about is co-marketing with the Star Wars people. They could build small buildings for nurses and doctors, and advertise:

Jabber in the Hut

jca2's avatar

I haven’t heard that until this post.

I administer a FB group with over 1k people in it and I have yet to see anyone refer to it as a “jab.” I’ll pay more attention now to see if I’ve been missing it.

janbb's avatar

@jca2 I’ve seen it twice this morning. Once in a FB chat with a friend and once on CNN. And I’d seen it a few times before in news articles.

jca2's avatar

@janbb: I don’t doubt you. I’m just saying I have yet to see it.

janbb's avatar

^^ Yeah, I get that.

Demosthenes's avatar

Maybe. I feel like I have seen it in local news recently. “Jab” and “poke” and so on sound vaguely sexual to me, whereas “shot” doesn’t. :P

Dutchess_III's avatar

I see “stabbed” more than “jabbed.”

Kropotkin's avatar

Way more Americanisms are making their way into British-English.

They annoy everyone over 40, and younger people seem oblivious to them being American linguistic imports.

zenvelo's avatar

I have seen the usage, but did not view it as a Britishism.

Perhaps it is from people tired of Hamilton: I am not throwin’ away my shot

janbb's avatar

@zenvelo It is the term commonly used in Britain and I had not been hearing it here. They also say “tablets’ instead of pills.

Call_Me_Jay's avatar

It doesn’t sound British or new to my American ears. Maybe we’re just hearing about injections A LOT more than any other time in our lives.

janbb's avatar

@Call_Me_Jay So you’ve heard the term “jab” for a shot before? As a noun, not a verb.

Here’s a link to what I’ve been noticing:

https://www.occupationalenglishtest.org/language-tips-wow-flu-shot/

zenvelo's avatar

@janbb I have always though of a “tablet’ as a subset of pills. A tablet is a round disk like medicine, which is different from pills that are gelatin capsules filled with medecine.

Call_Me_Jay's avatar

I think of pills as the solid medicines like aspirin, tablets as oblong pills, and capsules as capsules.

kritiper's avatar

Not in this neck of the woods…

si3tech's avatar

Yes, a lot more saying “jab”.

LuckyGuy's avatar

I don’t talk to many people but I do read the Economist. They call it “jab.”
Around here, it’s casually called a shot as in: ” Did you get your shot yet? I got my second one at CVS.”

dabbler's avatar

@LuckyGuy The Economist is the best !
They know their English and deliver it in delightful dollops. e.g. shortly after COVID lockdowns, there was a description of the government response that one bureau and another bureau and an institute and a university “all have their skates on” – ready and hitting the ground running. They also consider “data” a plural noun as it bloody well should be.

Personally I’ve adopted most UK English expressions that are different to American English because on reflection they express a concept more precisely. I think that’s fun, call me crazy!

dabbler's avatar

NY State is promoting “Got the Shot” It’s a catchy phrase.

elbanditoroso's avatar

@dabbler – Governor’s Cuomo’s female targets are saying
“I got personally inoculated by the governor”

jca2's avatar

@elbanditoroso: AKA a “hot shot.” LOL

Call_Me_Jay's avatar

an institute and a university “all have their skates on” – ready and hitting the ground running.

Skating, not running.

Kardamom's avatar

I’ve heard the term jab for several years, mostly from a few acquaintances who refer to “vaccination injuries” as to why they don’t get themselves or their children vaccinated. None of them are British. To me it just sounds like a negative way to describe a vaccination. As in the term, “That guy took a jab at me! What a jerk!” It makes vaccinations sound like a bad thing to do.

bernd's avatar

Don’t be a chauvinist!

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