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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for May 10, 1999
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jury-rig [n. v. JOO-ree rig]
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A jury-rig is a makeshift assembly that's just temporary, an emergency
measure improvised out of available materials, and to make one is to
jury-rig. Example: "The injured hiker jury-rigged a splint out of
sticks and twine."
The most likely origin is from the Old French ajuri (help), from the
Latin adiutare (aid). In this context, the word "jury" was originally
a nautical term meaning "temporary," as in a "jury sail." This is
distinct from the other meaning of "jury" (a group of persons sworn to
judge and give a verdict), which comes from Latin iurare (to swear),
from ius (law).
There is also a related expression, "jerry built" (built in a
slipshod, haphazard way), which probably split off from "jury-rig" as
it migrated into English, although some theories suggest it originated
independently. One story relates "jerry built" to the Biblical story
of the Prophet Jeremiah, whose lamentations might resemble the
complaints of someone in a jerry-built house. Another mentions the
city of Jericho, whose walls crumbled at the sound of a trumpet.
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