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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