English Australian (slang) - jerried

Where does the term jerried come from? It's an Australian slang term that means 'realised'


Solution 1:

Oxford Dictionaries has the best explanation:

Late 19th century: from US slang, in the phrase to be jerry (to) ‘to be wise to; to understand’, of unknown origin.

The full OED (unsurprisingly) tells the same story, but it's worth checking out if you can for the references. Here's its earliest attestations for "jerry":

1917 Digger 4/3 — The excuse was so full of Mer(r)it that the officer failed to ‘Jerry’ to it.
1918 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 21 June 221/1 — Unless the sergeant jerries to your lurk.

And this is its earliest attestation for the American expression "to be jerry (to)":

Alla, bless her heart, she is a good soul, is a flighty creature and she accepted the attentions of the comedian which his wife was not supposed to be jerry to.
Sorrows of Show Girl, 1908