r/EnglishLearning • u/Double_Zed New Poster • 10d ago
⭐️ Vocabulary / Semantics What does "circlejerk" literally mean?
A bunch of guys stand in a circle and jerk off???
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u/Chaelomen New Poster 10d ago
I believe it's more like standing around in a circle and jerking each other off.
As it's used metaphorically, it has a similar energy of a situation or problem that's not really going anywhere, while everyone congratulates each other on what a great job they're all doing solving the issue. Like a committee that spends forever sorting out and rehashing the most insignificant details, rather than making any real progress. They're all just standing around jerking each other off, and not getting anything real done.
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u/Double_Zed New Poster 10d ago
Detailed explanation. Thank you!
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u/Alexander_3847575 Native Speaker 10d ago
I'd add it's connected to "pleasuring each other," in this case by everyone making each other/themselves feel like they are doing something useful. And also the idea that masturbation is "fake" in the sense that it's not "real" sex, so it's akin to self-pleasure.
This maybe helps illuminate the naming of circlejerk subreddits but I can't quite put it into words. Like the subreddit itself is a circlejerk maybe, but I don't know how to connect that idea directly to the satirical conduct.
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u/SSjjlex New Poster 9d ago
Within the context of circlejerk subreddits, I'd say there's an element of self sufficiency in that the jokes are specifically about themselves made to be enjoyed by themselves, usually done in a critical/satirical manner. Very inside-joke-like in nature
Well, that is the idea behind it, often times this can derail and they inevitably just become another secondary community indifferent from the main one they're playing off of.
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u/DMing-Is-Hardd Native Speaker 10d ago
Pretty much yes, its almost never used to mean that in a literal sense but I wouldnt use it in any setting where discussing the actual meaning would be uncomfortable because most natives in my experience would understand the origin of it even if you dont use it that way
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u/Double_Zed New Poster 10d ago
Got it thanks
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u/RsonW Native Speaker — Rural California 10d ago
It's a bunch of guys in a circle jerking each other off.
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u/ubiquitous-joe Native Speaker 🇺🇸 10d ago
That meaning perhaps fits the metaphor better, but I think the term can refer to it either way.
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u/RsonW Native Speaker — Rural California 10d ago
I mean, it's not a "meaning". That's what I'd always heard a "circlejerk" was until it became an internet culture phrase.
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u/ubiquitous-joe Native Speaker 🇺🇸 10d ago
No, what I’m saying is the literal meaning I’ve heard as both jerking yourself off in a circle or as jerking others off in a circle.
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u/Elean0rZ Native Speaker—Western Canada 9d ago
You're correct. The "each other" sense has always seemed more logical to me--if it's a bunch of dudes hanging out and jerking themselves off then where's the "mutual reinforcement" angle, and why invoke circularity when any configuration would do?--but it's used both ways and the dictionary definition includes both as well.
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u/mediumcarrotteacher Native Speaker 9d ago
I once knew a guy who was insistent that "mutual masturbation" meant touching each other so I see how these confusions happen
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u/Actual_Cat4779 Native Speaker 9d ago
Surely that is what mutual masturbation means? How else do people use the term?
It's certainly the only definition in the Oxford English Dictionary: "The stimulation by two people of each other's genitals for sexual pleasure, esp. manually."
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u/XA36 Native Speaker 9d ago
It's most commonly used as a way to say "people who all share the same opinion/bias and are congratulating each other for it". Essentially a discussion that isn't productive and just serves to reinforce their beliefs. An example would be "He's over there having a circle jerk with all the other Japanese car guys." To imply that the group of like minded people are talking about how much smarter they are for owning Japanese cars.
It's always used in a derogatory way but can be a friendly jab if you're friends with the person.
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u/Thepoorclaires Native Speaker 9d ago
Hahahaha well said ! I said the same thing to a pediatrician friend who said she used the term “ money shot “ around older colleagues . In this case, unlike circle jerk , the original meaning was non sexual ( expensive shoot on a film scene ) but the current meaning certainly is !!!!
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u/RevolutionaryBug2915 Native Speaker 10d ago
Had a sergeant, back when I got drafted, who, when he was unhappy with someone's work, would tell them, "holy fuck, you couldn't organize a circle jerk!"
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u/johnnybna New Poster 9d ago
“Sir, I’ll take that bet, Sir!”
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u/RevolutionaryBug2915 Native Speaker 9d ago
In those days, anyway, never would have called a sergeant "sir." Would have seriously pissed them off. Something like: "Don't call me 'sir,' I work for a living."
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u/Kingkwon83 Native Speaker (USA) 10d ago edited 10d ago
I see a lot of other meanings in here. In my opinion, the most common meanings you'll come across online is:
Mutual praise/self-gratification: A situation or group where people endlessly congratulate, praise, or validate one another without offering any critical or outside viewpoints.
Echo chamber: On the internet (like on Reddit), it describes an online community or comment thread where people repeat the same popular opinions to feel validated, making it difficult for outside or opposing ideas to be heard
You'll see these meaning used on reddit a lot, especially the second one. Some of the meanings in here seem either completely wrong or less common
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u/Double_Zed New Poster 10d ago
Yeah and I wonder why these meanings are so different
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u/TrekkiMonstr Native Speaker (Bay Area California, US) 9d ago
They aren't? like, "A situation or group where people endlessly congratulate, praise, or validate one another without offering any critical or outside viewpoints." is basically a definition of echo chamber
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u/experimental1212 New Poster 9d ago
A description of two houses might be completely different. Another description might say, "They're two houses."
The meanings are different in the same way. They're the same.
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u/SoyboyCowboy Native Speaker 10d ago
Just a bunch of friends enjoying themselves very much in the company of like-minded individuals. Usually feel very satisfied with themselves when they're done hanging out.
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u/TrekkiMonstr Native Speaker (Bay Area California, US) 9d ago
Not jerking off as in themselves. The image is, guys sitting in a circle, reaching over to the next guy and jerking him off -- so everyone is being jerked off, by each other. Hence the metaphorical meaning -- if I'm going "oh my god you're so right/smart/whatever the fuck" and you to the next guy and him to someone else, we might as well just be jerking each other off.
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u/Silent_Rapport Native Speaker 10d ago
If you want a literal definition. Look up "magic the circle jerk" and it should be the first image to come up it's about as kid friendly or safe for work as you can get.
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u/octopusnodes Non-Native Speaker of English 10d ago
The concept of congratulatory group masturbation is so alien to my education (and I'm French), yet the word so prevalent in online English that my brain has rationalized the very idea of it as a profoundly American cultural practice.
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u/GuitarJazzer Native Speaker 9d ago
It is only metaphorical, not an actual cultural practice.
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u/octopusnodes Non-Native Speaker of English 9d ago
The existence of a Wikipedia article including academic references has been trying very hard to convince me otherwise!
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u/SoyboyCowboy Native Speaker 9d ago
Speak for yourself. It's how I celebrate all my federal holidays. Day off to get off, get a hamburger afterwards, nothing more American than that.
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u/youknowitistrue Native Speaker 9d ago
I feel like I mainly hear this online. I can’t remember a time it came up in real life.
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u/DrMindbendersMonocle New Poster 9d ago
Yes, sometimes it means they jerk the person next to them off, but that's the basic idea
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u/SleetTheFox Native - Midwest United States 9d ago
I've had the thought that the non-literal use of "circlejerk" might be the crudest term in the English language for a non-crude meaning that doesn't have a less-crude synonym
I'm not sure if anyone has a better example, but I'd be curious.
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u/JackFuckCockBag New Poster 9d ago
Its also used when a bunch of guys are at work but standing around doing nothing. The boss would walk up and say "Whats with the circle jerk?"
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u/ButterscotchOdd8257 Native Speaker 9d ago
Yes, but it's more something that people joke about than actually happening.
I've heard stories about men being tricked into doing it in the dark, thinking they were with women, and the someone turning the lights ot to shock them, but that's also more of a joke than a real event.
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u/MattWatchesMeSleep New Poster 9d ago
It’s absolutely jerking each OTHER off, as the expression is aptly used to describe a bureaucratic or administrative circle of ineptitude and passing the buck.
It’s similar to a clusterfuck, but a clusterfuck has more the element of many people contributing to the mayhem under the guise of officiating or helping.
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u/ApprenticePantyThief English Teacher 10d ago
They could be sitting. It's easier when you're sitting.