Hegseth Spars with senator over definition of ‘Jagoff’ during confirmation hearing

One of the odder moments in a confirmation hearing Tuesday for Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, was when a senator asked the former Fox News host to define the word “jagoff.”

The question from Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island and the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was prompted by a comment that Mr. Hegseth put forward for his military division, as he wrote in his 2024 book, “The War on Warriors”. .” He made the comment during his 2005 deployment to Iraq after hearing a presentation by a JAG officer, or a member of the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, who defends Army soldiers in legal matters.

After he and his team were briefed by the JAG officer on the proper protocols for firing at an enemy with a rocket-propelled grenade, Mr. Hegseth one of the rules of engagement and said that it “will get people killed,” he recalled in his book.

During the hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Hegseth initially defines the slang term with a small smile. “I need not, sir,” he said. “The men and women watching understand.”

When pressed, Mr. Hegseth ultimately “it would be a JAG officer who puts his own priorities ahead of the war fighters, their promotions, their medals, ahead of having the backs of those who make the tough calls on the front lines.”

Mr. Reed suggested that Mr. Hegseth was disrespectful when he called JAG officers the slang term. “How will you be able to effectively lead a military where one of the main elements is discipline, respect for lawful authority?” asked Mr. Reed.

The word “jagoff” — rooted in an unmistakably sexual definition, a blurring of a more sinister term — has expanded to become an overarching insult for someone who is annoying or otherwise unfavorable. But the meaning also has regional contexts. IN western Pennsylvaniait can be used to dismiss someone for their annoying behavior – or to embrace them with a sarcastic but loving compliment.

In Chicago – and elsewhere – it is often used as a mild insult.

“Hey, jagoff! You just blew through a stop sign,” it recalled author Edward McClelland of a 2019 incident at a Windy City intersection. He captioned his story with a tongue-in-cheek boast: “Pittsburgh may have invented the term, but Chicago perfected it.”