No, I will not pardon your racism.

[ReverendBSB]

Was helping a customer today make a connection to go from his garden hose to some pvc pipe thing he had made. I only had garden hose adapters in brass so I was looking for the right pvc fitting to go from the threaded brass fitting to the slip on pvc. Our store is weird in the variety of fittings so I was having a hard time finding the right one. I was explaining to the customer what I was looking for as I looked and he said this.

SC "Well can we, and pardon me for the word I am going to use..."

Me "Don't say that word to me."

What he was going to say was "N-WORD rig something." A common term down here, and one I hear too often. Only thing is most people say it without thinking. It's the south, they have heard it all their life, they say it without a thought of what it means. This guy however knew it was an offensive term and still was going to say it. That is far worse to me. But to his credit he didn't say anything to me about me shutting him down, we found the right piece, and he was happy and thanked me.

[dakhur]

In Australia we use the word "bodge job". No naughty connotations at all with that.

[Tama]

My fiance's sister has a nicer word for it, jury-rigging.

[ReverendBSB]

My fiance's sister has a nicer word for it, jury-rigging.

That is the term I use, and the first version of it I had heard. My parents were progressive on race (being from the south that meant they just treated people as people) and in high school I had a Star Trek RPG that had the skill Jury Rig. I was teaching a black friend to play and when we got to that skill he said "Oh, they mean N-WORD rig." First time I had ever heard the term. Now, working in hardware stores I hear it more than I can stand sometimes.

As I said in my first post, not everyone means it badly, they are just in the south and have heard it so many times it loses any impact and it becomes habit to say it.

[Mriswith]

Not that it's much better, but since I hate the n-word in all it's forms and uses I have started to use the phrase "Afro Engineer" instead. Like I said, not much better, but better

[AnaKhouri]

I only ever heard 'jury-rig' (it was always pronouced 'jerry-rig' so I didn't know how it was spelled until just now) and only heard n-rig later, from my husband's extended family. They also taught me the term 'jew them down'.

[fireheart]

In Australia we use the word "bodge job". No naughty connotations at all with that.

Must be a regional thing because I haven't heard that term in south Australia.

[dalesys]

I... They also taught me the term 'jew them down'.

That's Israeli Accounting Accumen, thankyouverrymuch.


(My daughter-in-laws are Polish & Israeli)

[Merriweather]

Was helping a customer today make a connection to go from his garden hose to some pvc pipe thing he had made. I only had garden hose adapters in brass so I was looking for the right pvc fitting to go from the threaded brass fitting to the slip on pvc. Our store is weird in the variety of fittings so I was having a hard time finding the right one. I was explaining to the customer what I was looking for as I looked and he said this.

SC "Well can we, and pardon me for the word I am going to use..."

Me "Don't say that word to me."

What he was going to say was "N-WORD rig something." A common term down here, and one I hear too often. Only thing is most people say it without thinking. It's the south, they have heard it all their life, they say it without a thought of what it means. This guy however knew it was an offensive term and still was going to say it. That is far worse to me. But to his credit he didn't say anything to me about me shutting him down, we found the right piece, and he was happy and thanked me.

At least he didn't insist on using it once you stopped him. Never heard that particular one, but grew up with plenty that were just as bad.

Ok, I'll cut a little bit of slack for someone (especially older) who grew up with terms, don't mean anything by them, and now and then accidently forget and use one, and then apologize. At least it shows they're trying. I don't cut slack for those who use the "grew up with it don't mean anything by it" excuse as a reason to continue to use it, keeping it going for future generations.

IMO, once you find out a word is (or was originally) meant as an insult to a particular race, religion, nationality, etc - then you stop using it. Period. There are lots and lots of words out there, get a Thesaurus & find a better word to use. There are a lot of words I have quit using that most people wouldn't even give a thought to, ones whose roots go back centuries, but at some point in history were coined to point out a specific group of people as cheap, or untrustworthy, or unreliable, etc. Once I realize or find out the original or true meaning of the word, I no longer feel comfortable using it.

[Draper Mel]

Here's a fascinating thread where people debate the origin of the phrase "jerry rig." I always thought it came from World War II, when the Germans were called "Jerry" as a derogatory term. But that may not be the case.

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/9245

[TheSHAD0W]

The polite term is "African-American Engineering". We use it here all the time.

[sirwired]

My wife has lived in the South her whole life. After graduating from college, she ended up in a job with a Jewish officemate. On day, she used the phrase "Jew it down", and her officemate, who was a great guy and knew she didn't mean anything by it, informed her it was in fact kind of offensive.

My wife had absolutely no idea whatsoever that "Jew it down" referred to Jewish people, stereotypically or otherwise. Growing up, she didn't even know any Jewish people, much less have any stereotypes about them. For all she knew, it could have been "Jueue it down", "Joo it down", whatever... it's not like anybody ever wrote it down.

That said, it's certainly hard to claim ignorance when you want to "N-word rig".

[raudf]

I got mad at my father for using the term around my son. I taught my son that when dealing with Papa, to call it, "Redneck Engineering," instead. Everything else is either macgyvering or rigging.

I also prefer the term "redneck engineering," when dealing with most people from my neck of hell. They use the n-word entirely too much and it's just as much a bad habit as drinking a keg a day. Bonus points if the redneck engineering actually uses the keg too...

[Chanlin]

I only ever heard 'jury-rig' (it was always pronouced 'jerry-rig' so I didn't know how it was spelled until just now) and only heard n-rig later, from my husband's extended family. They also taught me the term 'jew them down'.

*puts on English guy hat*
Jerry-Rigged and Jury-Rigged are both interchangeable terms. They are not to be confused with Jerry-Built which means something was badly put together. The exact origin of the term Jerry-Built is unknown

Jerry or Jury -Rigged come from the term Jury-Mast which is a temporary replacement on a ship. Jury by itself meant temporary, help, or aid. So Jury-Rigged means something that is a temporary fix.

The term N-word-Rig is meant more in the pejorative sense of fixing something as cheaply as possible. (actually first time I've heard this term too)
*English guy hat off*

I actually don't mind saying the N-Word in discussions and what not. It's only when its used in the pejorative like N-Word Rig that I won't say it.

[Moirae]

I hate that word. I can't even think it in full. No one should ever be called racial slurs. I'm surprised you didn't punch him, he'd have deserved it.