Plural of crackerjack; people who are extremely skilled, excellent, or outstanding at what they do; also refers to the caramel popcorn and prize snack.
From 'cracker' (something excellent) plus 'jack' (a fellow or person), popularized in the late 1800s. The Cracker Jack snack brand (trademarked 1896) used the slang term, making it famous. The brand added the famous prizes in boxes, further cementing the term's association with excellence.
Cracker Jack candied popcorn literally created a massive pop culture phenomenon—the phrase 'Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd / Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks' (1908) made it the iconic American snack, and the 'prize in every box' became legendary!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.