A while back we asked you guys for help coming up with a name for the “Frankenstein” category. And boy, did you guys deliver. A genuine deluge of suggestions and witty banter rolled into comments. And then one day, with no fanfare, a poll appeared on the sidebar as if by magic.
But the time has come to announce the winner. As chosen by you, the Fixer community that entertains me daily, the new category will be….*drum roll here*….
Abomineering!
With 30% of the votes, Abomineering beat out its competitors to take home the gold. Going forward, all unnatural combinations will be categorized under this tag. Thanks to everyone who threw an idea into the pot or voted in the poll!
But wait, there’s MORE!
The sidebar looks so lonely without a poll and I couldn’t help but notice that the “Jerry” vs.”Jury” rigging argument has sprouted up in the comments again today. So we’re settling this ONCE AND FOR ALL! *Thunder and lightning special effects here* Have your say and vote now on which word has the right to rigging!
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Settled and no one is wrong check out what I found:
jerry-rig
To fix or put together using non-standard or improvised materials. A derivation of jury-rig, from the nautical term jury mast. This term refers to a temporary mast raised when the normal mast has been lost due to storm or battle. This is probably a short form of injury mast.
Not to be confused with Jerry-built, which refers to an original construction of poor quality.
The original term was jury-rig. “Jerry-rig” was a term coined by British soldiers in WWII, since later in the war the Germans had to rely largely on scavenged parts and improvised repairs. “Jerry” was british pejorative slang for German.
According to the handy-dandy dictionary.com:
ju⋅ry-rig
/ˈdʒʊəriˌrɪg/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [joor-ee-rig] verb, -rigged, -rig⋅ging.
–noun
1. Nautical. a temporary rig to replace a permanent rig that has been disabled, lost overboard, etc.
2. any makeshift arrangement of machinery or the like.
–verb (used with object)
3. to assemble quickly or from whatever is at hand, esp. for temporary use: to jury-rig stage lights using automobile headlights.
4. Nautical. to replace (a rudder, mast, etc.) with a jury-rig: We jury-rigged a fore-topmast after the storm had snapped ours off.
Origin:
1780–90
jer⋅ry-rig
/ˈdʒɛriˌrɪg/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [jer-ee-rig]
–verb (used with object), -rigged, -rig⋅ging.
jury-rig.
Well, I’ve always used “jury-rigged” (and thought it a nautical term). I also always thought that jerry-rigged was a bastardization, and never knew about the German component. I did vote Jerry-Rig because I thought, “That’s exactly how a TIFI contributor would think of it… rigged by that guy, Jerry. You know him, always blowing up stuff in his back yard and constantly with the smoke from the garage. THen there was the ambulance last month…”
I once knew a guy that called it “jimmy-rig”.
I think this requires a grand jury investigation.
Either way, I love demoCRAY!!
I like what Wiktionary had to say about jerry-rig
jerry-rig
English
Verb
1. Common misspelling of jury-rig.
Wikipedia also had this in the jury-rig article
“The term “jerry-rigged” is a relatively recent mingling (or perhaps garbling) of “jury rig” with “jerry-built”.”
I voted for jury rig because I know it is the older term, but honestly, I grew up saying jerry rig, so that sounds more natural to me. I bet it is a regional thing.
I’m used to the phrase “jerry-built and jury-rigged”.
Either way, it’s still a kludge.
‘K, but I’m in the U.S. and “jerry-rig” is more likely a slurring of the phrase “jury-rig” and/or confusion or combination with “jerry-built”. ‘Sides, “jury-rig” has been around a lot longer, therefore it’s more correct.
Another one for debate, though not relevant to this site, is: glove box vs. jockey box. My husband hadn’t ever heard of “jockey box” before, but I’d grown up calling it that. (And it’s a valid term for that part of the car.)
Jerry-rig
Jury rigging is what district attorneys try to do, but jerry-rigging is a kludge.
@dono1
you mean a grad jerry investigation.
@Hates Photoshop
I think you forgot jerry can and ben and jerry.
Definitely Jury Rigged, as Hates said, after the improvised “jury rig” mast.
Veeery old term, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_rig
Both are the same, if you look up the definition:
Jury-rig:
Main Entry: ju·ry–rig
Pronunciation: \ˈju̇r-ē-ˌrig, -ˈrig\
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: 2jury
Date: 1788
: to erect, construct, or arrange in a makeshift fashion
Jerry-rigged:
Main Entry: jer·ry–rigged
Pronunciation: \ˈjer-ē-ˌrigd\
Function: adjective
Etymology: probably blend of jerry-built and jury-rigged
Date: 1959
: organized or constructed in a crude or improvised manner
Jury-rig may be traditional, but in modern English, both are interchangable.
@Athalion
Thank you Merriam-Webster Online.
http://www.merriam-webster.com
But..but…but… What’s ‘democray’?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_rig
Why ‘settle’ when it’s already settled?
It’s definately “Jury Rigged”, a v. old sailing term. “Jerry Rigged” is obviously folks confusing Jerry Built with Jury Rigged.
How many eejits do you know who say: “It’s a MUTE point”?
(which sets my teeth on edge, BTW!)
OneHappY Re: “Jockey box” around here we call flea markets “Jockey lots”!
Jury Rig
Jerry Built
People took the two and mixed them up to come up with Jerry Rig. Both are technically correct.
Jury Rig – if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Oh wait, this is a fit-it site. OK Jerry Rig. Oh, who cares as long as you keep the site alive.
I like Abobineering. It makes me think of Obama and his epic kludges going (and gone) through Washington.
I think we need a Photoshop contest with Obama and themes with the caption “Fix it? Yes we can!”
According to Webster’s, a real dictionary, it’s jury-rigged and jerry-built. And, as a professional editor, I’d point out that both require a hyphen. Just sayin’.
Jerry rigged FTW.
Also, @BillsBayou. Thanks? It wasn’t really my intention when I made up that “word” but what ever floats your jerry rigged boat.
@MrsEvilGenius:
I thought it was a MOO point…
You know, like a cow’s opinion, it doesn’t matter.
(friends reference, I wasn’t clever enough to make that up)
Moo point !! LOVE that. Will have to borrow.
@OneHappyAtheist
“Jockey box” sounds provincial. I have never heard the term. If some guy told me to reach into the jockey box, I’d probably deck him.
Jury-rigged.
@Joe
I’ve heard that one too.
My uncles name really is Jerry, and his can-do (at least sort of) attitude and projects make it Jerry-rigged.
I never heard of jury-rig before this site. So what if it has been around longer? There are MANY words that were coined around then that are no longer in fashion. I don’t see anyone going around calling people “ne’er-do-wells” anymore for example. Let the voting determine the winner…
I’ve always called it “ghetto-rigging” because I don’t know anyone named Jerry and my crap duct-tape project sure isn’t being done by a panel of my peers.
Remember: If it is moving and it shouldn’t, Duct Tape!
If it’s not moving and it should, WD-40!
And if neither of these solve your problem, hitting it with a hammer will usually do the trick.
Jury-rigged.
And Jockeybox sounds like it requires consenting adults.
Jury-rig, classically and obviously. People who prefer “Jerry-rig” usually use “Duck tape.”
The English language came about in the border regions between Britain and Scotland because they agreed on things that sounded the same between their own languages. It became the language of trade and democracy and you on this board shout over-the-fence about which is right, just say them both, they sound the same. Or use a French term.
I vote for jerry-rigged, because that’s what I’ve always heard it called. I’m amazed at how passionate some people are about this debate, though. Of course, hearing the phrase ‘mute point’ instead of ‘moot point’ makes me want to throw things, so I guess we all have our pet peeves.
And I have to say, I use duct tape; not sure where Rob conducted his jerry-rigged/duck tape poll. Random.
Nick’s got it right. It’s Jury-rig; the “jerry” version is from WWII
Kind of a simple decision if you live in the midwest, U.S.A. and TALK NORMAL. JURY-RIGGING is the correct pronunciation.
Jury-rigging as an actual legal practice and an actual phrase has nothing whatsoever to do with klooging something together. What does stacking a jury with agreeable witnesses have to do with putting a padlock on a car door? It’s “jerry-rigging” for that.
@Rob
I think you need to go to the liberry and look those up again.
It’s unclear whether you’re asking about “jerry-built” or “jury-rigged”, so I’ll give the etymology (word history) for both.
from WordOrigins.org :
Jerry-built, meaning to temporary or shoddy construction, dates to 1869. The OED2 hazards a guess that it may derive from the name of a builder who was notorious for poor construction. An 1884 source (unconfirmed) says that the phrase is in reference to a particular construction project on the Mersey River in Britain.
From Etymonline.com :
jerry-built
1869, Eng. dial. jerry “bad, defective,” a pejorative use of the male nickname Jerry (a popular form of Jeremy), or from naut. slang jury “temporary,” which came to be used of all sorts of makeshift and inferior objects (see jury (adj.)).
However, we should not confuse “jerry-built” with “jury rigged”. While they sound similar, their meanings are DIFFERENT.
According to WordOrigins.org:
Jury rig, while similar sounding, has a slightly different meaning, emphasizing the temporary nature of the solution and can imply an ingenious solution done with materials at hand. Jerry-built, on the other hand, is often used for a permanent, but poorly built, construction and has no positive connotation.
The origin of jury rig is nautical and dates to 1788. It is from the nautical term jury mast. This term dates to at least 1616 and refers to a temporary mast erected to hold sail when the normal mast has been lost due to storm or battle. It is commonly thought that this sense of the word is a clipped form of injury mast, but no evidence of this longer term has been found. This form of jury is etymologically unrelated to the jury that sits in judgment at a trial.
I’ve heard both usages, though “jerry-rigged” was more common where I grew up. Guess it depends if you want to emphasize cleverness, or shoddiness; and although “jury-rigged”is more correct, at least using “jerry” wouldn’t lead to confusion with the courtroom jury.
How could it be ‘jerry rigged?’ Even the British soldiers admired the quality of German construction. ‘Jerry rigging’ would imply constructing it decently, although maybe with limited materials.
Jerry-rig is from WW1, not WW2. We must defend our island from the filthy Hun!
@Rob
Duck tape went from being a bastardization of duct to an actual brand of duct tape made by Henkel in the 90s, so “Duck tape” is theoretically correct, now. Besides, “Du-ct ta-pe” in english is awkward to pronounce. The “ct” syllable doesn’t flow into the “ta” at all.
Besides, who actually uses duct tape on ducts? It loses it’s stickiness after a few months and falls off. I’ve always used that aluminum foil tape instead.
On a related note, does anyone else say “saNGwich” instead of “saNDwich”? I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help myself – it just comes out that way.
The correct term is a moot point..meaning a done deal or meaningless to argue.. a mute point would be one in which someone who doesn’t speak makes a point with a gesture or a widely recognized look…i.e. rolling your eyes to an obviously wrong answer to a simple question. @MrsEvilGenius
kingleathead…please visit…thereifixedit.com
I just call it “MacGyver-izing”