How did chocolate sprinkles get the nickname jimmies?
http://www.word-detective.com/030299.html You’re correct in your assumption that ‘jimmies’ is primarily a New England term for what the rest of the country (and probably the world) know as ‘sprinkles.’ According to the Dictionary of American Regional English, ‘Jimmies’ is actually a trademarked term for a brand of candy (not necessarily chocolate) sprinkles, which they explain are ‘tiny balls or rod-shaped bits of candy used as a topping for ice-cream, cakes and other sweets.’ Although ‘Jimmies’ is trademarked, my guess is that the term was in generic use for many years prior to the founding of Jimmies as a brand name. And while ‘jimmies,’ meaning chocolate sprinkles, first showed up in English around 1947, ‘jimmies’ has also been used since around 1900 as a short form of the old English slang word ‘jim-jam.’ ‘Jim-jam,’ in turn, has since the 16th century meant ‘a trivial article or knick-knack,’ so it’s not too great a stretch to see a connection there with candy “jimmies,” which are
