It all depends, If it were on something (chocolate sprinkles on a donut or ice cream) I would call it sprinkles...if it was in a bottle...jimmies....idk why.
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Never heard the term jimmies for chocolate sprinkles.
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"Dear Word Detective: Does anyone know the etymology of "jimmies" in the sense of "chocolate sprinkles"? I assume it's a New England word, since I never heard it when growing up in New Jersey. (No New Jersey jokes, please.) -- Larry Davidson, via the internet.
New Jersey jokes? Why would I want to tell jokes about New Jersey? Never heard of such a silly thing. Besides, I just happen to have been born in Princeton, New Jersey myself. My visits to the Garden State in recent years, however, have been limited to the New Jersey Turnpike, a road that rivals, in my opinion, many of the scariest amusement park rides in the land. I have often wished I could meet the folks responsible for the numerous and always amusing surprise lane merges one encounters on the approach to New York City. I have much to say to them.
You're correct in your assumption that "jimmies" is primarily a New England term for what the rest of the country (and probably the world) know as "sprinkles." According to the Dictionary of American Regional English, "Jimmies" is actually a trademarked term for a brand of candy (not necessarily chocolate) sprinkles, which they explain are "tiny balls or rod-shaped bits of candy used as a topping for ice-cream, cakes and other sweets."
Although "Jimmies" is trademarked, my guess is that the term was in generic use for many years prior to the founding of Jimmies as a brand name. And while "jimmies," meaning chocolate sprinkles, first showed up in English around 1947, "jimmies" has also been used since around 1900 as a short form of the old English slang word "jim-jam."
"Jim-jam," in turn, has since the 16th century meant "a trivial article or knick-knack," so it's not too great a stretch to see a connection there with candy "jimmies," which are certainly trivial. "Jim-jams" was later used to mean "little quirks" or "eccentricities," which also fits in with the candy sense. (Both "jim-jams" and "jimmies" were also used as slang for delirium tremens, but I think we can safely ignore that connection.)
As for the ultimate origin of "jim-jam," the presumption is that it arose as a nonsense word, meaning nothing, except, of course, to ice cream sundae lovers."
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I guess it's a lot like some older people calling the refrigerator a frigidaire after the brand name.
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"Dear Word Detective: Does anyone know the etymology of "jimmies" in the sense of "chocolate sprinkles"? I assume it's a New England word, since I never heard it when growing up in New Jersey. (No New Jersey jokes, please.) -- Larry Davidson, via the internet.
New Jersey jokes? Why would I want to tell jokes about New Jersey? Never heard of such a silly thing. Besides, I just happen to have been born in Princeton, New Jersey myself. My visits to the Garden State in recent years, however, have been limited to the New Jersey Turnpike, a road that rivals, in my opinion, many of the scariest amusement park rides in the land. I have often wished I could meet the folks responsible for the numerous and always amusing surprise lane merges one encounters on the approach to New York City. I have much to say to them.
You're correct in your assumption that "jimmies" is primarily a New England term for what the rest of the country (and probably the world) know as "sprinkles." According to the Dictionary of American Regional English, "Jimmies" is actually a trademarked term for a brand of candy (not necessarily chocolate) sprinkles, which they explain are "tiny balls or rod-shaped bits of candy used as a topping for ice-cream, cakes and other sweets."
Although "Jimmies" is trademarked, my guess is that the term was in generic use for many years prior to the founding of Jimmies as a brand name. And while "jimmies," meaning chocolate sprinkles, first showed up in English around 1947, "jimmies" has also been used since around 1900 as a short form of the old English slang word "jim-jam."
"Jim-jam," in turn, has since the 16th century meant "a trivial article or knick-knack," so it's not too great a stretch to see a connection there with candy "jimmies," which are certainly trivial. "Jim-jams" was later used to mean "little quirks" or "eccentricities," which also fits in with the candy sense. (Both "jim-jams" and "jimmies" were also used as slang for delirium tremens, but I think we can safely ignore that connection.)
As for the ultimate origin of "jim-jam," the presumption is that it arose as a nonsense word, meaning nothing, except, of course, to ice cream sundae lovers."
_______________________________________________________________________
I guess it's a lot like some older people calling the refrigerator a frigidaire after the brand name.
THat's odd. I always though Jimmies was a NJ/Philly quirk. It was always "jimmies" in south jersey.
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