Etymology From Middle English jasper, jaspre, from Old French jaspre, a variant of jaspe (modern French jaspe), from Latin iaspis, from Ancient Greek ἴασπις (íaspis).
1
Obsolete Any bright-coloured kind of chalcedony apart from cornelian.
2
An opaque, impure variety of quartz, of red, yellow, and other dull colors, breaking conchoidally with a smooth surface.
Etymology From Middle English jasper, jaspre, from Old French jaspre, a variant of jaspe (modern French jaspe), from Latin iaspis, from Ancient Greek ἴασπις (íaspis).
US, Slang A person, a guy, especially seen as naïve or simple.
And list'nin to some big out-a-town jasper / Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin' / Not a wholesome trottin' race, no!1957, Meredith Willson, “Ya Got Trouble”, in The Music Man:
"I stood there through almost an hour of it before they called Rooster Cogburn to the stand. I had guessed wrong as to which one he was, picking out a younger and slighter man with a badge on his shirt. And I was surprised when an old one-eyed jasper that was built along the lines of Grover Cleveland went up and was sworn."1968, Charles Portis, “True Grit”, in The Saturday Evening Post:
2 more examples
Standing on the corner like a just-got-in-town jasper1975, “Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)”, in Nighthawks at the Diner, performed by Tom Waits:
“That jasper,” sniggered Darby, “never pulled out his ‘dummy’ for nothing but pissing, I bet you!”2006, Thomas Pynchon, “The Light over the Ranges”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 110: