Jinx wrote:

> Dave Van Horn wrote:
>> Well, in MY mind, "jury rigged" is too close to the racially insulting
>> terms.  I'm not offended when someone uses the "jury rigged" form
>> though.
> 
> But that's in your head Dave. It's like saying that you shouldn't use
> the word "whittler" around people who lived in Poland in WW2

I'm not sure about how others feel, but in any case I don't know a single
German who would know that "jerry-rigged" has anything to do with being
German (I didn't, and since I lived for a time in the USA, I have a more
than average exposure to US slang) -- and much less would feel insulted by
it. 

On the other side, the claimed extraordinary capacity of "jerry-rigging"
just about anything (they just call it differently) is a substantial part
of Brazilian national pride...

Now I could understand how some could be offended by talking about a
"rigged jury", but then removing this expression from the language would be
downright dangerous :)

Gerhard

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