Wordnik word of the day: jane-of-apes

Today’s word of the day is jane-of-apes, a silly pert girl and the female counterpart of jackanapes, from which the word jane-of-apes was modeled. A jackanapes, which, despite the “s” ending, is not plural, is an impertinent or conceited fellow or a coxcomb. Jackanapes definitely appeared first in Middle English and is usually connected to William de la Pole, Fourth Earl and First Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450), who had the nickname “Jack Napis.”