What is "jagoff"

n. (context pejorative slang English) An irritating, inept, or repugnant person.

Jagoff or jag-off is an American English derogatory slang term from Pittsburgh English meaning a person who is stupid or inept. It is most prominent in the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania areas. The Dictionary of American Regional English defines the term as a "general term of disparagement." It is an archetypical Pittsburgh word, conjuring warm and nostalgic feelings among Pittsburgh expatriates.

According to Barbara Johnstone, Professor of English and Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, the term has its roots in the northern British Isles, an area that supplied many immigrants to Pittsburgh. It is derived from the verb "to jag," which means "to prick or poke." Johnstone said that "Nobody thinks of these derivatives of ‘jag' as obscene."