This week’s theme
Words having nautical origins

This week’s words
offing
jury-rig
slush fund
pinchgut
jettison

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(JOOR-ee rig)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To assemble or fix temporarily using whatever is at hand.

ETYMOLOGY:

On a sailing ship, a jury-mast is a temporary mast, rigged when the original is damaged or lost. From jury (makeshift or temporary), perhaps from Old French ajurie (help). Earliest documented use: 1840.

USAGE:

“The city does not run power to Bushkoppies, so most residents jury-rig their homes with illegal connections from power lines. But the Segelbergs refuse to wire an illegal connection to their creche, both out of a concern for safety and to teach the children a respect for the law.”
Cecilia Johnson; Raising South Africa; Times Live (Johannesburg, South Africa); Jan 13, 2017.

See more usage examples of jury-rig in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: