No, I will not pardon your racism.

[Andara Bledin]

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.

It's jury rig, which is an old nautical term. Jerry rig is a conflation of jury rig and jerry build. Technically, jury rigging is doing what you have to with what you have when you don't have access to what you need. A jerry build is doing what you can with what you have because you're too lazy to actually do it the right way. Most people don't really know the difference between the two because they've fallen out of popular use.

My brother uses such terms without even thinking about it. He's definitely racist, but not actively, more like a closet racist. In some ways, so are my mother and aunt. It's pretty annoying, really. >_<

^-.-^

[PepperElf]

*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.

I usually use Jerry-Rigged myself just cos that's what is usually said on the ships. And have heard some variations such as "Chalk that fix up to Jerry"....

what confused the fuck out of me though was when a coworker tried to convince us that it was racial. Even now I don't remember how she got to that conclusion. And mind you, I've only heard the version that TheShadow's customer tried using maybe 2 or 3 times, including this post.

So yeah... I think she was mixing it up with the icky one.


still... i did somewhat stop using it out of fear of being offensive. so i'm perhaps a bit more apt to use "kludge" or "MacGyver"

[Mytical]

When I can think of it, I use "McGuyver it". If you've ever watched the show, you understand. Otherwise it is Jerry-Rig it.

[MoonCat]

I've never heard the n-word used that way. I've had customers on the phone use the term "jew me down" (when talking about price) and that upsets me, I find it hard to believe they don't know it's offensive.

At least your customer stopped and didn't actually say it.

[Chanlin]

what confused the fuck out of me though was when a coworker tried to convince us that it was racial. Even now I don't remember how she got to that conclusion.

Jerry is to German as Charlie is to Vietnamese. At least it was common in WW2 though I don't ever recall it being offensive. Though I suppose some Germans might think it so.

EDIT: Most of the etymology I'm coming across, including the OED, has no idea where the original term originates from, or which is correct, but it goes back to as early as 1616 in use. Lots of folks speculate its from the French jour (day) as in it will only last a day.

[KatherineB]

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

It's fairly prevalent in Victoria.

[Andara Bledin]

Jerry building was around almost 100 years prior to WWII, and before even WWI, even before the German Empire was even formed, so that etymology won't hold up.

There's a likelihood that the Jerry part was just a transliteration from jury, since that term is several centuries older.

^-.-^

[Seshat]

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

I've heard both jury-rig (pronounced jerry-rig), and bodge job. Never heard n-rig, never intend to use it. Not when jury-rig and bodge job are both available and have no racist or otherwise derogatory derivations.

Or, as others have said: mcguyvering, tinkering, kludging...

It's interesting that there's a variation between '... because you have no choice' and '... because you're too lazy'. Hmm.

[Tama]

Or, it's something damn important you can't afford to not have working while you figure out what to fix it with.

The little plastic doohickey in our toilet back (that goes from the back of the handle to...wherever it goes, it controls the flush) snapped and we used a hairband to keep it together.

With four adults in the house and one toilet we needed that fucker to flush.



We've left it like that--because it works pretty darn well.

[EricKei]

I had only heard the term jury/jerry rig for many, many years -- I am from the south, and while I have occasionally heard the term N-rig in use, it has been extremely seldom.

Or, as others have said: mcguyvering, tinkering, kludging...

"Kludging" is a term I've almost always heard used to refer to taking (sometimes ill-advised) shortcuts in computer programming.

When I hear "MacGyvering", the first image that pops into my head is something like "rubber band + bubble gum + hunk of cardboard = tactical nuke"

"Tinkering" implies "fiddling around" to me, rather than half-assed repairs

[Chanlin]

Jerry building was around almost 100 years prior to WWII, and before even WWI, even before the German Empire was even formed, so that etymology won't hold up.

Folk etymology is funny that way. The Jerry (Gerry) = German is a possible explanation for why someone might think there is a racial component to it. But I agree that there is just no way that's where the phrase originated from.

[LillFilly]

Never heard that term before. But then, there's lots of stuff I never grew up knowing, being from small town VT and all.

[protege]

Or, it's something damn important you can't afford to not have working while you figure out what to fix it with.

Yep, big difference there. That was why, when my Mazda's exhaust fell off, I used a coat hanger to temporarily reattach the damn thing. Crude, but effective. That worked until a new section came in, and it was repaired properly.

Rather different, was one of my paper-route wagons. There was very little money coming in (my parents used it as their own little S&L) so that vehicle was held together with all sorts of repairs. Bought used, it had been repainted. But, the nice appearance didn't last long--I used whatever paint I could find to keep rust at bay. Same with the running gear. When a strut went through the floor, it was simply easier to lift the body off the chassis, apply a square of pegboard to the damaged floor, and then use longer bolts to hold it all together. It wasn't pretty, but it worked. At least there was another benefit--the vehicle's appearance earned me quite a bit in tips

[veniteangeli]

I'm in New Zealand, and I've heard people calling that kind of fix "Kiwi Ingenuity" with a very tongue in cheek sort of tone.

I've also heard people referring to such a fix as a "Maori job", which is on par with N-rig, I think.

Having said that, it's... I hesitate to say this, but I almost feel like it's more of a colloquialism here? As in, that particular phrase isn't as offensive as N-rig is to African Americans? I honestly don't know for sure, but the sense that I get from my personal experience is that most Maori people when hearing something like that would see it more as good natured ribbing than a personal affront.

[Andara Bledin]

I suspect the lack of irritation at "Maori job" is because Maori is the appropriate name for them.

After all, the offensive term in question isn't "negro rig" or "colored rig" or something else that was considered acceptable at the time it was coined.

^-.-^