Hermanos! The devil has built a robot!

Numero Cinco ,'The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco'


Natter 70: Hookers and Blow  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Maria - Nov 03, 2012 5:22:47 pm PDT #28447 of 30001
Not so nice is that I'm about to ruin a Friday morning for a bunch of people because of a series of unfortunate events and an upset foreign government. - shrift

Ugh, meara. I'm sorry.

And I'm sorry for the pissy mood, Suzi.


Zenkitty - Nov 03, 2012 5:26:36 pm PDT #28448 of 30001
Every now and then, I think I might actually be a little odd.

It's dependent on carrier not phone manufacturer. BB makes phones that don't have SIM cards and ones that do. Even if it did take a SIM card, the phone would have to be unlocked to accept a UK SIM card.

Well, crap. The phone is branded with Virgin Mobile so that probably means it doesn't even have a slot for a SIM card. Okay, new plan. Thanks, all.

Plumber ~ma, meara, and sorry for the bad mood, Suzi.


Burrell - Nov 03, 2012 5:27:58 pm PDT #28449 of 30001
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!

I think it's jury-rig and jerry-built, meara. I bet Beverly knows, she knows things.

My kids are writing the most hilarious stories! Franny's has a heroine who whines all the time, and Isaac's hero complains about his mother who nags him and his dad who is impossible to wake up. Ah ha ha ha ha! What's that line again? Oh yes: write what you know.


Zenkitty - Nov 03, 2012 5:35:13 pm PDT #28450 of 30001
Every now and then, I think I might actually be a little odd.

Oh yes: write what you know.

I took that advice and ended up working on a novel about interstellar porn. It was my NaNoWriMo lasat year. I should finish that sucker.


Liese S. - Nov 03, 2012 5:35:52 pm PDT #28451 of 30001
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."

jerry-built

But racist, right?


aurelia - Nov 03, 2012 5:36:30 pm PDT #28452 of 30001
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.

is it jury-rig and jerry-built, or the other way around?

I don't know if they have any answers, but my co-workers have opinions on that. [link]

But racist, right?

That is my understanding.


meara - Nov 03, 2012 5:37:11 pm PDT #28453 of 30001

But racist, right?

About Germans? I'm having vague memories. I suppose that's what the internet is for.


meara - Nov 03, 2012 5:38:37 pm PDT #28454 of 30001

Hmm, one source I found says:

"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".

"Jerry" as British slang for "a German, especially a German soldier" is not attested until 1898 and is unconnected with "jerry-built".


Zenkitty - Nov 03, 2012 5:48:13 pm PDT #28455 of 30001
Every now and then, I think I might actually be a little odd.

I hope that means I can still say jerry-built and jerry-rigged, which are useful terms in my vocabulary. It had never occurred to me before now that it might be a slur against Germans.


le nubian - Nov 03, 2012 5:53:25 pm PDT #28456 of 30001
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

the whole concept of interstellar porn is giving me the giggles.