Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary:
yerk
I. transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English, to bind tightly
Date: circa 1520
1. dialect to beat vigorously
; thrash
2. dialect to attack or excite vigorously
; goad
II. noun
Date: 1581
1. Scottish a lashing out
; kick
2. dialect jerk 1
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing:
yerk
(After Yerkes Observatory) An object-oriented
language based on a Forth Kernel with some major
modifications. It was originally known as Neon, developed
and sold as a product by Kriya Systems from 1985 to 1989.
Several people at The University of Chicago have maintained
Yerk since its demise as a product. Because of possible
trademark conflict they named it Yerk, which is not an acronym
for anything, but rather stands for Yerkes Observatory, part
of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at U of C.
Version 3.62.
ftp://oddjob.uchicago.edu/pub/Yerk/ .
E-mail: Bob Lowenstein .
(1994-11-23) 
