"Carl / KG6YKL" wrote in message
newsfC9e.56373$lz2.17509@fed1read07...
RST Engineering wrote:

jury-rig solution

jury-rig is correct and is a nautical term meaning to make a temporary
repair using available materials to solve a problem.


Okay, this is way off topic but I have to know the history of this
expression. It is my understanding that the correct term is
"Jerry-rigged" or "Jerryrigged" which is based on the pejorative term
"Jerry" for Japanese, used during WWII. The way it was told to me is that
near the end of WWII Jerry (the Japanese) were badly beaten and much of
their equipment was non-operational. However the Japanese were very
resourceful at doing whatever it took to get things working. So people
started talking about "Jerry-rigging" things.


In WWII the Germans were "jerrys" while the Japanese were "nips."



Obviously the term "Jerry" is racially insensitive which probably led to
the alteration of the term. However, isn't "Jerryrigged" a complimentary
term when you consider it implies resourcefulness? Lemmonaide from
lemmons?

So, when I read Jim's post I did a quick Google search and found a
different explanation:

Most sources claim that the origin of the word jerryrig is unknown, but
William and Mary Morris, in Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (see my
bibliography), indicate that the term is likely a corrupted form of
juryrig, which referred to temporary rigging on a ship. Jury as used in
juryrig (which arose in the 17th century) likely comes from Old French
ajurie `help, relief.' The 'temporarily repair' sense remained with the
word juryrig, while its nautical roots faded away. The vulgar expression
to which you refer is likely patterned after juryrig and jerryrig.

To say that something is "jerryrigged" is to mix idioms a bit, because
the proper term is "jerrybuilt." A "jerrybuilder," a term dating to
19th-century England, was originally a house builder who constructed
flimsy homes from inferior materials. The "jerry" in the term may have
been a real person known for the practice, or may be a mangled form of
"jury," as in "jury-rigged." I tend to think that "jerrybuilt" arose
separately from "jury-rig" simply because their senses are slightly
different. Something that is "jury-rigged" is concocted on the spur of the
moment to meet an emergency, but something "jerrybuilt" is deliberately
constructed of inferior materials to turn a quick buck.


So, what do folks out there think?

Carl.

PS- Isn't it strange what catches your interest sometimes?