Etymology

ballin' the jack

Today it means: Daringly running a locomotive at high speed. Full definition →

First used late 19th or early 20th c.
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The story

See Wikipedia at Ballin' the Jack § Origin.

First known use, by meaning

  • late 19th or early 20th c. Daringly running a locomotive at high speed.
  • 1913 Dancing a dance named after the daring act of the railroad engineer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.