It remains to be seen whether Pete Hegseth’s testy Senate hearing on Tuesday will get him confirmed as Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defence.
But one thing’s for sure: It made the word “jagoff” trend on social media.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked the former Fox News personality and military veteran about a statement he reportedly made to his platoon about being briefed by a “JAG officer,“ an acronym for judge advocate general, a term for a military lawyer.
Reed then asked Hegseth, “By the way, would you explain what a ‘jagoff’ is?”
Hegseth responded, “I don’t think I need to, sir.”
“Why not?” Reed wondered.
“Because the men and women watching understand,” Hegseth explained.
After Reed pressed him, Hegseth then said that a “jagoff” is a term for “a ‘JAG officer’ who puts his or her own priorities in front of the war fighters.”
You can see the exchange below.
As you can see in the video above, Reed concluded Hegseth’s explanation was “interesting.”
So did many people on social media, especially because UrbanDictionary.com defines “jagoff” as “a person, usually male with an unfavorable personality or annoying habits,” and said the term “generally implies stupidity or ignorance.”
“Jagoff” also sounds really close to “jackoff,” another slang term that refers to masturbation.
Long story short: There was mockery. Lots of mockery.
Some people noted the term has deep Pennsylvania connections.