Jury rigging is both a noun and a verb describing makeshift repairs made with only the tools and materials at hand. Its origin lies in such efforts done on boats and ships, characteristically sail powered to begin with. After a dismasting, a replacement mast and if necessary yard would be fashioned and stayed to allow a craft to resume making way.
Etymology
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'sA 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. The phrase "jury rigged" has been in use since at least 1788. 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.
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 or spinnaker pole, could be adapted to carrying a form of sail. Ships typically carried a selection of spare parts, but at up to 1 meter in diameter the lower masts were too large to freight spares. Example jury-rig configurations include:
The bowsprit set upright and tied to the stump of the original mast.
The jury mast knot provides anchor points for securing makeshift stays and shrouds to support a jury mast, in spite of a body of evidence of the knot's actual historical use. Jury rigs are not limited to boats designed for sail propulsion. Any form of craft found without power can be adapted to carry jury sail as necessary. In addition, other essential components of a boat or ship, such as a rudder or tiller, 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".
Afro engineering or "nigger 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; the term was euphemized as "afro engineering" in the 1970s. The terms have been used in the auto mechanic industry to describe quick makeshift repairs. These phrases have largely fallen out of common usage due to racist, pejorative connotations.
To "MacGyver" something is to rig up something in a hurry using materials at hand, from the title character of the Americantelevision show of the same name, who specialised in such improvisation stunts.
In New Zealand, having a "Number 8 wire" mentality means to have the ability to make or repair something using any materials at hand.
