Jay walking

[Dungeman]

Why is Jay walking so called?

[WendyW]

According to http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorj.htm The term for crossing in the middle of the street is US slang dating to 1917. It derives from the sense of Jay meaning a stupid and annoying person, which dates to 1884 England and is a reference to the behavior of the bird called jay, which is stupid and annoying. Since walking into traffic is not a bright idea, the term was applied to those who did it.

[Fang]

Not wishing to contradict the earlier answer given but it was explained to me as the course taken by someone who starts using a pedestrian crossing but then "cuts the corner" off the crossing before reaching the end - the resulting course resembling a letter J.

[xyzzyplugh]

But, Fang, if it resembled a letter J wouldn't they almost be making a U turn?

[FredPuli]

American sources sometimes suggest that the word jay was applied to innocent country folk who came into the city to visit. They were dressed in their finest clothes , handsome as jays, but were unused to the speed and volume of city traffic and so regularly strolled into the roadway carelessly. This seems no more than a refinement on the earlier use of jay for an innocent or simple individual. What is true is that the jay is a member of the crow family. The magpie is another, more commonly seen in the UK than the British jay. Crows and magpies in particular are often seen wandering in the traffic on busy roads, even motorways, strolling unconcerned and avoiding vehicles at the last moment . They are attracted by the food e.g. insects, small mammals and birds that not only live on the verges (hence hovering kestrels there too) but are killed on the roadway and provide carrion , though that be obtained at apparent risk. US jays are numerous and conspicuous near human settlements. It seems reasonable to suppose that this behaviour was an element in the apt term 'jay-walking' , derived from American observation of their version of the bird.