Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
From wiki somethingorother
Because Jack is the nickname for John; i.e. "Jack Kennedy". It comes from the French name "Jaques", which is the same name as "John" in English.
Edit in response to tattoohead: Way back in 1066 AD England was conquered by french-speaking Normans. For hundreds of years after that, England was a bilingual nation; they spoke both French and English. That is how "John" and "Jaques" came to be interchangeable.
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Sorry I am little late to this party.
This seems like a great explanation for the Jack - John connection however we are missing something here.
Jaques is not the Franco equivalent of John.
Jean is the Franco equivalent as in St.Jean Baptiste = St.John the Baptist.