My understanding is that sailors' use of "colorful" language is as precise and
ordered as any other profession's.

-jc

Marilyn Harper wrote:

>      Actually I think the term is "jury-rigged" and has something to do
>      with sailing vessels.  This does not mean that there isn't some sort
>      of nasty connotation too, since sailors are not known for being
>      refined.
>
>      That's one of those wonderful, colorful words that don't have any good
>      equivalent that you hate to see leave the vocabulary just because
>      people think they are offensive.
>
>      I suppose if people find it offensive we have to stop using it whether
>      it was intended to be offensive or not.
>
>      Marilyn
>
> ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
> Subject: Re: Dutchman
> Author:  Leland Torrence <[log in to unmask]> at np--internet
> Date:    2/5/01 7:59 AM
>
> "he jewed me down on the price, but I took the job anyway  because I need
> the work"....
> We in New Haven antique section, land of Yale and the WASP often are heard
> to say "he christianed me down"....
> Best,
> Leland
>
> PS  I read somewhere, just after John Lindsey died that he used to say White
> Anglo Saxon Protestant was redundant because they were all white, hence the
> moniker:  ASP.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "deb bledsoe" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2001 4:42 PM
> Subject: Re: Dutchman
>
> > Ralph Walter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > > On the other hand, I was not thrilled recently to hear corrugated
> fasteners
> > > referred to as "Jew nails," with the clear implication that these
> devices
> > > were intended for use in a bad job.  Anybody else ever heard that one? I
> > > won't rat you out to the DAL.
> >
> > around here  (the midwest),  any time the word "jew" is used like that,
> it's not
> > so much that the connotation is that it's a bad quality job, but actually
> sort of the
> > reverse....
> > something of high quality, but which the speaker is supposed to provide or
> do for little
> > or nothing....  it's more about money
> > and the perception that "Jews" control everything, hold all the power, own
> the media...
> >
> > I think it's sort of an expression of powerlessness or jealousy or
> something....
> > or a left-handed compliment
> > like, someone will say, "he jewed me down on the price, but I took the job
> anyway
> > because I need the work"....
> > or an alternative usage I heard ,  advice offered when another person was
> in some
> > serious legal trouble,   "it'll cost you, but you better get you a jew for
> this one...."
> > implying that the person would undoubtedly pay dearly for the
> representation,
> > but was going to need only the best in the courtroom...
> >
> > but those terms are pretty much recognized as being inappropriate in
> business or
> > social situations, and the persons whom I've heard using them weren't
> exactly
> > the highest-class or smartest folks out there ...
> >
> > I was close to 30 when my husband, who is a black/white/creek mixed-race
> person
> > from northeastern alabama , informed me that he found my use of the term
> > "jerry-rigged" to be offensive
> > I was clueless, so he educated me that it was just a polite euphemism for
> the term that
> > the (mostly white) employers of his youth used to refer to a bad job,
> "nigger-rigged"...
> >
> > so I've been using the term "cobbled together" ever since, but can't
> really see the
> > logical connection between low-quality or makeshift work and the word
> "cobbled"...
> > it's probably just a matter of time before someone informs me that most of
> the
> > worst quality shoemakers of some long-gone era in some other part of the
> country
> > were of X nationality, and that the term is offensive to that nationality
> > and shouldn't be used...
> >
> > I guess I should probably just say that "the job wasn't well-thought-out,
> used materials
> > that were low-quality and/or inappropriately applied, and the work was
> hastily
> > thrown together and can't be expected to last"....
> > but it's soooo much easier to just say "cobbled-together"   ;)
> >
> > still, I sure don't want to do or say anything that could be hurtful or
> offensive to
> > someone
> > else -- and it never hurts to practice being more precise in our speech
> and writing I
> > guess....
> >
> >
> > deb  "a very lazy person, being as I'm human "
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________
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> >