TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: when is it right to be wrong? From:"Brad Jensen" <brad -at- elstore -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sun, 7 Apr 2002 03:36:24 -0500
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dick Margulis" <margulis -at- fiam -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Cc: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Saturday, April 06, 2002 6:31 AM
Subject: Re: when is it right to be wrong?
>
> People, people. We're not supposed to be discussing this on list, but
> I'm tired of writing to each of you individually off-list. LOOK IT UP IN
> A FRIGGIN' DICTIONARY, WILL YOU PLEASE!
Gee, I always thought you guys WERE the dictionary!
After all, dictionaries don't lead, they follow.
> As I just wrote to Annamarie, who asked me if I was "sure":
>
> I'm sure. I collect dictionaries. And use them.
>
> Jury, in the sense we are discussing, is a nautical term meaning for
> temporary use, as in an emergency. Thus jury mast, jury anchor, jury
> rig.
Hey, I am the dicitonary.
> This is where we get the formerly hyphenated verb, to juryrig.
> American Heritage says the origin is unknown. Webster II speculates that
> it is probably from Old French ajurie, meaning relief. Webster II
> contains a lot of speculative etymologies, while AHD consciously chose
> to adhere to the more modern standard of requiring a written citation
> before accepting an etymology. Hence the discrepancy.
Yes, I prefer speculative etymologies that can offer at least one
speculative
citation.
> The phrase rigging a jury (in a court) is influenced by juryrig,
> probably arose in headline writing,
more speculation, apparently
>and is more traditionally expressed
> as fixing a jury.
well, at least that part makes some sense.
> Jerrybuild, according to Webster II, is "probably from jury build." AHD
> has it as origin unknown. But the entry immediately preceding is Jerry,
> chiefly British slang for a German, especially a German soldier. So I
> suspect there might be some influence.
You think they are related because the are next to each other int he
dictionary? I'd
thing jerrybuild is related to jerryrig (or juryrig), thru phonetic and
semantic
similarity.
> I'd look all these up in my compact OED, but I can't quite focus my eyes
> that small at this time of the morning--even with the magnifier.
So none of your dictionaries has an authoritative statement to make on
the subject.
>>In any case, the "jury-rig" (it is usually hyphenated) you're asking about
has nothing whatever to do with juries in the judicial sense. "Jury" was
originally a naval term for any makeshift contrivance substituting for the
real thing in an emergency, most commonly found in the term "jury-mast," a
temporary mast constructed in place of one that had been broken. There's
some debate about where the word "jury" in this sense came from, with the
leading (but unverified) theory being that it was short for "injury."
To say that something is "jerryrigged" is to mix idioms a bit, because the
proper term is "jerrybuilt." A "jerrybuilder," a term dating to 19th-century
England, was originally a house builder who constructed flimsy homes from
inferior materials. The "jerry" in the term may have been a real person
known for the practice, or may be a mangled form of "jury," as in
"jury-rigged." I tend to think that "jerrybuilt" arose separately from
"jury-rig" simply because their senses are slightly different. Something
that is "jury-rigged" is concocted on the spur of the moment to meet an
emergency, but something "jerrybuilt" is deliberately constructed of
inferior materials to turn a quick buck.
<<
So my idea that it is related to jerryrigged/juryrigged is questionable. And
I disagree with this latter author, because I think jerryrigged is a simple
phonetic recasting of juryrigged.
I guess dictionaries are wonderful tools when they all agree.
Language is not a discovery, it is a living invention.
Brad Jensen
www.eufrates.com
Brad Jensen
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by April 30. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
Are you using Doc-to-Help or ForeHelp? Switch to RoboHelp for Word for $249
or to RoboHelp Office for only $499. Get the PC Magazine five-star rated
Help authoring tool for less! Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
