Similarly, after a
dismasting, a replacement
mast, often referred to as a jury mast[2] (and if necessary,
yard) would be fashioned, and
stayed to allow a watercraft to resume making
way.
Etymology
The phrase 'jury-rigged' has been in use since at least 1788.[2] The adjectival use of 'jury', in the sense of makeshift or temporary, has been said to date from at least 1616, when according to the 1933 edition of the
Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, it appeared in
John Smith's A Description of New England.[2] It appeared in Smith's more extensive The General History of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles published in 1624.[3]
Two theories about the origin of this usage of 'jury-rig' are:
A corruption of jury mast; i.e., a mast for the day, a temporary mast, being a spare used when the mast has been carried away. From French jour: 'a day'.[4]
From the
Latinadjutare: 'to aid'; via
Old Frenchajurie: 'help' or 'relief'.[5]
Rigging
Depending on its size and purpose, a
sail-powered boat may carry a limited amount of repair materials, from which some form of jury-rig can be fashioned. Additionally, anything salvageable, such as a
spar or
spinnaker pole, could be adapted to carrying a form of makeshift
sail.
Ships typically carried a selection of spare parts, e.g., items such as
topmasts. However, due to their much larger size, at up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) in diameter, the lower masts were too large to carry as spares. Example jury-rig configurations include:
The
bowsprit set upright and tied to the stump of the original mast.
The
jury mast knot may provide anchor points for securing makeshift
stays and
shrouds to support a jury mast, although there is differing evidence of the knot's actual historical use.[6][7][8]
Jury-rigs are not limited to boats designed for sail propulsion. Any form of watercraft found without
power can be adapted to carry jury sail as necessary. In addition, other essential components of a boat or ship, such as a
rudder or
tiller, can be said to be 'jury-rigged' when a repair is improvised out of materials at hand.[1]
Similar terms
The compound word jerry-built, a similar but distinct term, referring to things 'built unsubstantially of bad materials', has a separate origin from jury-rigged. The exact etymology is unknown, but it is probably linked to earlier pejorative uses of the word jerry, attested as early as 1721, and may have been influenced by jury-rigged.[9][10][11] The blended terms jerry rigging and jerry-rigged are also common.[12]
The American terms Afro engineering (short for African engineering)[13] or nigger-rigging[14] describes a fix that is temporary, done quickly, technically improperly, or without attention to or care for detail. It can also describe shoddy, second-rate workmanship, with whatever materials happen to be available.[15]Nigger-rigging originated in the 1950s United States;[13] the term was
euphemized as afro engineering in the 1970s[14][16] and later again as ghetto rigging. The terms have been used in the U.S.
auto mechanic industry to describe quick makeshift repairs.[17] These phrases have largely fallen out of common usage due to their colloquial nature, but are occasionally used within the African-American community.[18][19][20][21]
Another American expression is redneck technology.[22]
To MacGyver (or MacGyverize) something is to rig up something in a hurry using materials at hand, from the title character of the American television show of the same name, who specialized in such improvisation stunts.[23]
In New Zealand, having a Number 8 wire mentality means to have the ability to make or repair something using any materials at hand, such as standard farm fencing wire.[24]
In British slang, bodge and bodging refer to doing a job serviceably but inelegantly using whatever tools and materials are at hand; the term derives from
bodging, for expedient
woodturning using unseasoned, green wood (especially branches recently removed from a nearby tree).
The chiefly American term do-it-yourself (DIY) relatedly refers to creating, repairing, or modifying things without professional or expert assistance.
Similar concepts in other languages include: jugaad in Hindi and jugaar in Urdu, urawaza (裏技) in Japanese, tapullo in
Genoese dialect, tǔ fǎ (土法) in Chinese, Trick 17 in German, desenrascar in Portuguese an gambiarra in
Brazilian Portuguese, système D in French, jua kali in
Swahili. Several equivalent terms in South Africa are n boer maak 'n plan in
Afrikaans, izenzele in
Zulu, iketsetse in
Sotho, and itirele in
Tswana.[25]
^
abcThe Oxford English Dictionary, Volume V, H-K. Oxford:
Clarendon Press. 1933. p. 637, corrected reprinting 1966.
^Smith, Captaine Iohn. The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles. London: Michael Sparkes., (2006,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) digital republication), p.223. (
Online edition) Note that in the
orthography of
Early Modern English, 'J' was often written as 'I', thus the actual quote from Smith (1624) reads, "...we had re-accommodated a Iury-mast to returne for Plimoth...", corrected for modern parlance, "...we had re-accommodated a Jury-mast to return for Plymouth..."
^E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
^Israel, Mark (29 September 1997).
"jerry-built" / "jury-rigged". www.Yaelf.com. alt.usage.english Word Origins FAQ. Archived from
the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^William Morris; Mary Morris (1988). Morris Dictionary of Words and Phrase Origins, 2nd Edition. New York:
HarperCollins. pp. 321–322.
^Wilton, Dave.
"jerry-built / jury rig". www.WordOrigins.org. Word Origins.org. Archived from
the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^Jackson, Shirley A. (2015).
Routledge International Handbook of Race, Class, and Gender.
Routledge. Intersections of discourse: Racetalk and class talk.
ISBN978-0-415-63271-3 – via Google Books. 'I can't even nigger-rig it.' ... 'The proper terminology is Afro-engineering.' Here, blackness is demarcated in a classed way. 'Nigger-rigging' is a quick, temporary fix to a problem, but it is a solution that is second rate to the 'right' way. ... declares that this type of knowledge is racialized and classed in a way that deems it inherently inferior. ... implies that black ingenuity and innovation as sub-par and second rate to white ingenuity and innovation. ... By responding indirectly ... consents to this classed usage of the word 'nigger'. Not only does this trivialize whether the slur's usage is inappropriate in the first place, but it equates 'nigger-rigging' with 'Afro-engineering'. ... denotes these terms as synonymous, thus imposing an even more classed meaning to this racial slur.
^Eisiminger, Sterling (1979). Aman, Reinhold (ed.). "A Glossary of Ethnic Slurs in American English". Maledicta. 3 (2). Maledicta Press: 167. Afro engineering