jacques

This spelling has a split personality. In English, it turns up as an old variant of jakes — the kind of word you would not want on a fancy menu, because it meant an outhouse. In French, though, Jacques is the medieval surname-and-given-name form that ultimately leans on Jacob, the biblical heavyweight behind Jacob, James, and a whole family of far-traveling names. So one cluster of sounds smells faintly of a back alley, while the other carries a saintly, cathedral-arched pedigree. Same spelling, wildly different baggage — language loves that sort of prank.