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Model showing a method for jury-rigging a rudder

In maritime transport terms, and most commonly in sailing, jury-rigged[1] is an adjective, a noun, and a verb. It can describe the actions of temporary makeshift running repairs made with only the tools and materials on board; and the subsequent results thereof. The origin of jury-rigged and jury-rigging lies in such efforts done on boats and ships, characteristically sail powered to begin with. Jury-rigging can be applied to any part of a ship; be it its super-structure (hull, decks), propulsion systems (mast, sails, rigging, engine, transmission, propeller), or controls (helm, rudder, centreboard, daggerboards, rigging).

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 Latin adjutare: 'to aid'; via Old French ajurie: 'help' or 'relief'.[5]

Rigging

Three variations of the jury mast knot.

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:

  • A spare topmast
  • The main boom of a brig
  • Replacing the foremast with the mizzenmast (mentioned in William N. Brady's The Kedge Anchor, or Young Sailors' Assistant, 1852)
  • 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 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]

See also

  • Sailing ship accidents
  • Bricolage – visual-arts creations from whatever happens to be available
  • Chindōgu, a Japanese term for deliberately "un-useful" inventions, created as a hobby and entertainment.
  • Exaptation – a shift in the function of a trait during evolution
  • Rube Goldberg machine – a complicated, impractical device for performing a very simple task, named for a cartoonist who drew many of them
  • Gung ho, a technique of guerilla industry employed at the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives in WWII
  • Jugaad – a Hindi word for adopting innovative or simple fixes that may bend certain rules
  • Kludge – inelegant solutions that are difficult to maintain
  • MacGyver in popular culture § MacGyverisms and "to MacGyver" – terms derived from a TV character who was an inventive jury-rigger
  • Repurposing – use of an item (alone or combined with others) for a purpose other than its original function
  • Robinsonade – a literary genre named after the novel Robinson Crusoe
  • Tofu-dreg project – a phrase used in Mainland China to describe a poorly constructed building
  • Upcycling – the transformation of waste into something usable for environmental preservation
  • W. Heath Robinson – a British artist known for drawing complicated machines used for simple purposes

References

  1. 1 2 "jury-rigged". www.Lexico.com. Oxford English Dictionary. 2022. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 The Oxford English Dictionary, Volume V, H-K. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1933. p. 637, corrected reprinting 1966.
  3. ↑ 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..."
  4. ↑ E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
  5. ↑ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1988). Barnhart dictionary of etymology. New York: H. W. Wilson Company. p. 560.
  6. ↑ Hamel, Charles (August 2006) [September 2005]. "Investigations – nœud de capelage or jury rig knot". Charles.Hamel.free.fr. Charles Hamel. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  7. ↑ Hamel, Charles (August 2006) [September 2005]. "Jury rig investigation – nœud de capelage jury rig mast knot is it only ornamental or utilitarian (with secondary evolution to ornamental)?". Charles.Hamel.free.fr. Charles Hamel. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Hamel, Charles (August 2006) [September 2005]. "Jury rig investigation 2 – nœud de capelage jury rig mast knot is it only ornamental or utilitarian (with secondary evolution to ornamental)?". Charles.Hamel.free.fr. Charles Hamel. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ William Morris; Mary Morris (1988). Morris Dictionary of Words and Phrase Origins, 2nd Edition. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 321–322.
  11. ↑ Wilton, Dave. "jerry-built / jury rig". www.WordOrigins.org. Word Origins.org. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  12. ↑ "'Jury-rigged' vs. 'jerry-rigged'". Dictionary.com. 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  13. 1 2 Green, Jonathan (2005). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2 ed.). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 10, African engineering. ISBN 978-0-304-36636-1 – via Google Books.
  14. 1 2 Green, Jonathan (2005). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2 ed.). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 1003, nigger rig n.; nigger rig v.; nigger rigged. ISBN 978-0-304-36636-1 – via Google Books.
  15. ↑ Partridge, Eric (2006). The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: J-Z. Taylor & Francis. p. 1370, nigger-rig. ISBN 978-0-415-25938-5 – via Google Books.
  16. ↑ Jackson, Shirley A. (2015). Routledge International Handbook of Race, Class, and Gender. Routledge. Intersections of discourse: Racetalk and class talk. ISBN 978-0-415-63271-3 – 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.
  17. ↑ Poteet, Jim; Poteet, Lewis (1992). Car & Motorcycle Slang. toExcel an imprint of iUniverse.com Inc. p. 14, Afro engineering. ISBN 978-0-595-01080-6 – via Google Books.
  18. ↑ Eisiminger, Sterling K. (1991). The Consequence of Error and Other Language Essays. P. Lang. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-82041-472-0 – via Google Books.
  19. ↑ Eisiminger, Sterling (1979). Aman, Reinhold (ed.). "A Glossary of Ethnic Slurs in American English". Maledicta. Maledicta Press. 3 (2): 167. Afro engineering
  20. ↑ Green, Jonathon (1996). Words Apart: The Language of Prejudice. Kyle Cathie. pp. 59. ISBN 978-1-85626-216-3.
  21. ↑ Droney, Damien (2014). "Ironies of Laboratory Work during Ghana's Second Age of Optimism". Cultural Anthropology. 29 (2). p. 363–384, Ironic Africa. doi:10.14506/ca29.2.10.
  22. ↑ See, e.g.: Kelly, Kevin (2 August 2006). "Street Use: Redneck Technology". KK.org. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  23. ↑ Rich, John (2006). Warm Up the Snake: a Hollywood Memoir. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. p. 167. ISBN 9780472115785. OCLC 67240539.
  24. ↑ "Time to 'break free' of No 8 wire mentality". www.Stuff.co.nz. New Zealand: Stuff. 26 July 2012.
  25. ↑ Campbell, Angus Donald (2017). "Lay Designers: Grassroots Innovation for Appropriate Change" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology – via AngusDonaldCampbell.com.

Further reading

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