R Buckminister Fuller usage of Jitterbug R Buckminister Fuller uses the term Jitterbug many times in his writings unfortunately I don t know what he means by the term Here is one such reference In context it appears to have nothing to do with music dance swing style or alcohol consumption Presumably it is some mechanical device or toy that was current in his day Possibly it could be turned inside out or otherwise transformed in a variety of ways I m speculating a lot based upon very ambiguous usage He uses it in a context where he is talking about turning a tetrahedron inside out by pushing a vertex through the opposite face There is a game kids used to play that involved folding a square of paper diagonally several times to form a device with four pockets on the bottom that could be opened in two directions on the top I don t know what that device or game is called and it may be what he is referring to