What is the etemology of the term 'Jerry built'?

Question

I know where it comes from but the idiots in my office reckon I'm wrong. The idiots,

Answer 1

Initially, I would have said that it referred to the slang for Germans from WW2. However, out of curiosity, I looked it up and it seems to actually be a much older saying, dating back to the mid 1800's.

jer-ry-built
adjective
1. built cheaply and flimsily.
2. contrived or developed in a haphazard, unsubstantial fashion, as a project or organization.
[Origin: 1865-70; jerry (as in jerry-build) + built]

jer·ry-build (jr-bld)
tr.v. jer·ry-·built, (-blt) jer·ry-·build·ing, jer·ry-·builds
To build shoddily, flimsily, and cheaply.
[From dialectal jerry, defective, perhaps from the name Jerry.]


1. jer-ry
adjective Building Trades Slang. of inferior materials or workmanship.
[Origin: 1875–80; short for jerry-built]

2. jer-ry
noun, plural -ries. Chiefly British Slang. a chamber pot.
[Origin: 1820–30; short for jeroboam]

So it seems that perhaps jerry-built was originally a reference to something built like that substance most commonly found in the bottom of a chamber pot . . .

Answer 2

You mean how did Jerry Yang & David Filo build Yahoo without the government developed internet? I'll go back even further. Bell Labs developed the transistor and later the laser. The semiconductor industry shrunk the transistors down making modern computers possible. with cameras. And they were built for NASA. Where would Jerry Yang and David Filo be without computers that run on transistors? Did either of them develop electricity and string up the power lines? That run their servers? Try creating a transistor or even running a vacuum tube without electricity. Try creating computer wafers without cameras. Intel and AMD did not invent the camera either. The government developed the internet under DARPA. Yahoo, Google, Amazon, FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest and many others would not not exist without the internet. Einstein came up with e=mc^2 that made the atom bomb and all nuclear weapons possible. Private industry sure as hell wasn't going to build those. They didn't have the money. Former republican candidate Herman Cain with a degree in computers worked directly for the Department of the Navy. He was not an enlisted man, he was not a consultant or an independent contractor. He did not work for IBM. He was an employee of the Navy. Now how many times are you guys going to ask and perpetuate your twisted version of "you did not build it by yourself."? Because as evidenced you did not build it yourself. Someone else laid the groundwork for you. Quick question: Who took you to grade school? Your parents or a bus? You sure as hell didn't get there by yourself. Edit: It's dumb crap like this is why other countries are conducting basic research and not the United States. You ever play with the box 360 Kinect? that technology was developed by the israelis. Do you have a high definition television? High definition was developed by the United States military.

Answer 3

The term Jerry is used because of the Germans, the "Jerries." The whole phrase means the same as "******-rigged." Where there's a politically correct one-word synonym for this I have no idea.

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

It is NOT German..........


jerry-built, jerry-building, jerry-builds
Definition1.to build in a cheap, shoddy manner.
Definition2.to construct or develop a system, plan, organization, or the like in a haphazard, careless, or thoughtless manner.

Answer 6

Said of buildings, etc: built cheaply, hastily and incompetently.
Thesaurus: flimsy, cheap, insubstantial, ramshackle, tacky, ticky-tacky (US), rickety, shoddy, slipshod, defective, faulty; Antonym: firm, stable, substantial.
Etymology: 19c: possibly referring to the town of Jericho and the Biblical story in which its walls came tumbling down.

Answer 7

you are right! good old jerry (war referance) to being shoddy work

Answer 8

Its from the war and means German built, it implies it is crap!

Answer 9

It used to be bigoted slang against Jews: "I got jewed" I jew-rigged it" and other anti-Semitic slurs.

Answer 10

made in germany(from the war)