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'Shindig'

Natter 70: Hookers and Blow  

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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.

tommyrot - Nov 03, 2012 5:55:30 pm PDT #28457 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

Well, I'm half-German and I don't give a fuck. Or maybe that's the Finn in me.

SuziQ - Nov 03, 2012 5:55:41 pm PDT #28458 of 30001
Back tattoos of the mother is that you are absolutely right - Ame

The pissy is downgraded to seriously annoyed. Eating dinner seems to have helped.

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