![Jurry rigged rudder](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Jurry_rigged_rudder.jpg)
In
maritime transport
Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people ( passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throu ...
terms, and most commonly in
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...
, jury-rigged
is an
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ma ...
, a
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
, and a
verb
A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...
. It can describe the actions of temporary makeshift running repairs made with only the tools and materials on board; and the subsequent results thereof. The origin of jury-rigged and jury-rigging lies in such efforts done on
boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically found on inl ...
s and
ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
s, characteristically
sail powered to begin with. Jury-rigging can be applied to any part of a ship; be it its super-structure (
hull,
decks),
propulsion systems (
mast,
sails
A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...
,
rigging,
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
,
transmission,
propeller), or controls (
helm
Helm may refer to:
Common meanings
* a ship's steering mechanism; see tiller and ship's wheel
* another term for helmsman
* an archaic term for a helmet, used as armor
Arts and entertainment
* Matt Helm, a character created by Donald Hamilton
* ...
,
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
,
centreboard
A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...
,
daggerboards,
rigging).
Similarly, after a
dismasting
Dismasting, also spelled demasting, occurs to a sailing ship when one or more of the masts responsible for hoisting the sails that propel the vessel breaks. Dismasting usually occurs as the result of high winds during a storm acting upon masts, ...
, a replacement
mast, often referred to as a jury mast
[ (and if necessary, ]yard
The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...
) would be fashioned, and stayed to allow a watercraft to resume making way
Way may refer to:
Paths
* a road, route, path or pathway, including long-distance paths.
* a straight rail or track on a machine tool, (such as that on the bed of a lathe) on which part of the machine slides
* Ways, large slipway in shipbuildin ...
.
Etymology
The phrase 'jury-rigged' has been in use since at least 1788. The adjectival use of 'jury', in the sense of makeshift or temporary, has been said to date from at least 1616, when according to the 1933 edition of the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, it appeared in John Smith's '' A Description of New England''.[ It appeared in Smith's more extensive ''The General History of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles'' published in 1624.][, (2006, ]University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
(UNC) digital republication), p.223.
Online edition
Note that in the orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...
of Early Modern English
Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...
, 'J' was often written as 'I', thus the actual quote from Smith (1624) reads, "...we had re-accommodated a Iury-mast to returne for Plimoth...", corrected for modern parlance, "...we had re-accommodated a Jury-mast to return for Plymouth..."
Two theories about the origin of this usage of 'jury-rig' are:
*A corruption of jury mast; i.e., a mast for the day, a temporary mast, being a spare used when the mast has been carried away. From French : 'a day'.
*From the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: 'to aid'; via Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
: 'help' or 'relief'.
Rigging
Depending on its size and purpose, a sail-powered boat may carry a limited amount of repair materials, from which some form of jury-rig can be fashioned. Additionally, anything salvageable, such as a spar
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
or spinnaker pole
A spinnaker pole is a spar used in sailboats (both dinghys and yachts) to help support and control a variety of headsails, particularly the spinnaker. However, it is also used with other sails, such as genoas and jibs, when sailing downwind ...
, could be adapted to carrying a form of makeshift sail.
Ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
s typically carried a selection of spare parts, e.g., items such as topmast
The masts of traditional sailing ships were not single spars, but were constructed of separate sections or masts, each with its own rigging. The topmast is one of these.
The topmast is semi-permanently attached to the upper front of the lower ...
s. However, due to their much larger size, at up to in diameter, the lower masts were too large to carry as spares. Example jury-rig configurations include:
*A spare topmast
*The main boom of a brig
*Replacing the foremast
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ...
with the mizzenmast
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation lig ...
(mentioned in W. Brady's '' The Kedge Anchor'' (1852))
*The bowsprit
The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay
A bobstay is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tensio ...
set upright and tied to the stump of the original mast.
The jury mast knot
The jury mast knot (or masthead knot) is traditionally used for jury rigging a temporary mast (sailing), mast on a sailboat or Sailing ship, ship after the original one has been lost. The knot is placed at the top of a new mast with the mast proj ...
may provide anchor points for securing makeshift stays and shrouds
Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to '' burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous S ...
to support a jury mast, although there is differing evidence of the knot's actual historical use.
Jury-rigs are not limited to boats designed for sail propulsion. Any form of watercraft found without power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
can be adapted to carry jury sail as necessary. In addition, other essential components of a boat or ship, such as a rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
or tiller
A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...
, can be said to be 'jury-rigged' when a repair is improvised out of materials at hand.[
]
Similar phrases
*The compound word 'jerry-built', a similar but distinct term, referring to things 'built unsubstantially of bad materials', has a separate origin from jury-rigged. The exact etymology is unknown, but it is probably linked to earlier pejorative uses of the word 'jerry', attested as early as 1721, and may have been influenced by 'jury-rigged'.
*The American terms 'Afro engineering' (short for African engineering) or 'nigger
In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...
-rigging' describes a fix that is temporary, done quickly, technically improperly, or without attention to or care for detail. It can also describe shoddy, second-rate workmanship, with whatever materials happen to be available. 'Nigger-rigging' originated in the 1950s United States;[ the term was euphemized as 'afro engineering' in the 1970s] and later again as 'ghetto rigging'. The terms have been used in the U.S. auto mechanic industry to describe quick makeshift repairs. These phrases have largely fallen out of common usage due to their racist, pejorative nature.
*To 'MacGyver
Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot.
In both p ...
' (or MacGyverize) something is to rig up something in a hurry using materials at hand, from the title character of the American television show of the same name, who specialized in such improvisation stunts.
*In New Zealand, having a 'Number 8 wire
Number 8 wire is a gauge of wire on the British Standard Wire Gauge that has entered into the cultural lexicon of New Zealand.
Use for farm fencing
Early farm fences in New Zealand were generally used to protect crops, gardens, and orchards fr ...
' mentality means to have the ability to make or repair something using any materials at hand, such as standard farm fencing wire.
See also
*Sailing ship accidents
Sailing ships frequently encounter difficult conditions, whether by storm or combat, and the crew frequently called upon to cope with accidents, ranging from the parting of a single line to the whole destruction of the rigging, and from running ag ...
*Bricolage
In the arts, ''bricolage'' ( French for "DIY" or "do-it-yourself projects") is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work constructed using mixed media.
The term ''bricolage'' ...
– creations from whatever happens to be available
* Exaptation – a shift in the function of a trait during evolution
* Rube Goldberg – an American cartoonist known for drawing complicated machines used for simple purposes
*Heath Robinson
William Heath Robinson (31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944) was an English cartoonist, illustrator and artist, best known for drawings of whimsically elaborate machines to achieve simple objectives.
In the UK, the term "Heath Robinson cont ...
– a British artist known for drawing complicated machines used for simple purposes
*Jugaad
''Jugaaḍ'' (or "Jugaaṛ") is a colloquial Indo-Aryan word, which refers to a non-conventional, frugal innovation, often termed a "hack". It could also refer to an innovative fix or a simple work-around, a solution that bends the rules, or a ...
– an Indian-based word for adopting innovative or simple fixes that may bend certain rules
*Kludge
A kludge or kluge () is a workaround or quick-and-dirty solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend and hard to maintain. This term is used in diverse fields such as computer science, aerospace engineering, Internet sla ...
– inelegant solutions that are difficult to maintain
* MacGyver in popular culture
*Repurposing
Repurposing is the process by which an object with one use value is transformed or redeployed as an object with an alternative use value.
Description
Repurposing is as old as human civilization, with many contemporary scholars investigating t ...
*Robinsonade
Robinsonade () is a literary genre that takes its name from the 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' by Daniel Defoe. The success of this novel spawned so many imitations that its name was used to define a genre, which is sometimes described simply ...
– a literary genre named after the novel Robinson Crusoe
*Tofu-dreg project
"Tofu-dreg project" () is a phrase used in the Chinese-speaking world to describe a poorly constructed building, sometimes called just "Tofu buildings". The phrase was coined by Zhu Rongji, the former premier of the People's Republic of China, ...
– a phrase used in Mainland China to describe a poorly constructed building
*Upcycling
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value ...
– the transformation of waste into something usable for environmental preservation
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Sailing rigs and rigging
Nautical terminology