On 9/23/04 11:33 PM, "Gnarlodious" <gnarlodious@EARTHLINK.NET> wrote:

> Entity Joy Hecht spoke thus:
> 
>> jerry-rigged - doesn't relate to anything, I think.  Jerry cans?  I don't
>> know what they are anyway.
> I believe...this is from wartime, the Germans, "Jerrys" who were talented an
> makeshift repairs...
> 
> -- Gnarlie
> Tubal Litigation: Suing because of a misconception
> 
> 
From WSU.EDU
 Although their etymologies are obscure and their meanings overlap, these
are two distinct expressions. Something poorly built is �jerry-built.�
Something rigged up temporarily in a makeshift manner with materials at
hand, often in an ingenious manner, is �jury-rigged.� �Jerry-built� always
has a negative connotation, whereas one can be impressed by the cleverness
of a jury-rigged solution. Many people cross-pollinate these two expressions
and mistakenly say �jerry-rigged� or �jury-built.�

English usage...
 
  "Jerry-built", which the OED defines as "built unsubstantially of
bad materials; built to sell but not last" is attested since 1869,
and is said to have arisen in Liverpool.  It has been fancifully
derived from the Biblical city of Jericho, whose walls came tumbling
down; from the prophet Jeremiah, because he foretold decay; from the
name of a building firm on the Mersey; from "jelly", signifying
instability; from French _jour_="day" (workers paid day-by-day
considered less likely to do a good job); and from the Romany
_gerry_="excrement".  More likely, it is linked to earlier
pejorative uses of the name Jerry ("jerrymumble", to knock about,
1721; "Jerry Sneak", a henpecked husband, 1764; "jerry", a cheap
beer house, 1861); and it may have been influenced by "jury-rigged".

Also the term Jerry relating to germans did not come about until late 1800s

����������������������������������������
jimt
Planned insanity is best.
Remember that sanity is optional.
http://www.tactical-bus.info (tech info)
http://www.westydriver.com