Make Your Point > Archived Issues > JERRY-BUILT

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pronounce JERRY-BUILT: Say it "JAIR ee bilt." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: We could add the word jerry-built to this list of fun, colorful, sophisticated, mildly insulting hyphenations:    bush-league,     ill-contrived, and    pipe-dreamy. Could you define those three? Which (if any) would offend you the most if someone applied it to your work, your ideas, or your performance? definition: Sources disagree about where the words "jerry-builder" and "jerry-built" came from. The "jerry" part means "poorly made, or of poor quality," and might be a slang use of the first name "Jerry." Or, the terms might be offshoots from sailors' slang, in which "jury" means "shoddy, temporary, makeshift." For example, a "jury-mast" is a makeshift mast put in place in a big hurry after the real one breaks, and something "jury-rigged" is rigged up in a hurry just to make do for a short time, using whatever materials are on hand. Anyway, we've used the fun, slangy terms "jerry-builder" and "jerry-built" in English texts since at least 1881. Their meanings have stayed pretty much the same: a jerry-builder is someone who does shoddy work in a hurry, and something jerry-built is poorly made, often made too quickly with materials that are too cheap. In other words, jerry-built things are made fast to sell fast, and then they fall apart fast. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Adjective: "these jerry-built houses;" "The website is bug-riddled and jerry-built." Other forms:  You can jerry-build something: "They jerry-built these huts in one afternoon;" "They keep jerry-building these apps." People who jerry-build things are jerry-builders. And the process or activity is "jerry-building:" "They've got a bad reputation for jerry-building." There's an alternate adjective, "jerry-rigged," also meaning "put together in a hurry." But not all dictionaries recognize it, so I recommend sticking with either "jerry-built" or "jury-rigged," from sailors' slang, as I mentioned above. how to use it: The word "jerry-built" is funny, slangy, somewhat rare, and moderately insulting. "I took one look at the jerry-built carnival ride and said, 'Nope.'" You might talk literally about jerry-built tents, forts, homes, buildings, and other structures, or about jerry-built machines, websites, apps, etc. You might also get figurative and talk about jerry-built stories and plots, jerry-built excuses and philosophies, jerry-built systems and economies and empires, etc. examples: "At distilleries in Colorado you'll see all manner of custom-made copper stills, some of them jerry-built with vintage accessories and repurposed doodads."    — Jeffries Blackerby, New York Times, 11 November 2011 "When you visit a website but block its ads, you're declining to give its creators the advertisers' money... The root problem here is the jerry-built nature of the attention economy itself, in which everybody participates but most people only semiconsciously consent to."    — Lev Grossman, Time, 8 October 2015 has this page helped you understand "jerry-built"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "jerry-built" without saying "slapdash" or "slipshod." try it out: Imagine that the New York Times has slammed your favorite movie or book as "jerry-built." Defend it by talking about why the plot is strong, logical, subtle, or masterful. Or, concede the point, and talk about why the story is entertaining despite being flimsy, shoddy, or hastily thrown together. If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is "Codenames MYP." You can play it with a partner or by yourself. It's loosely based on the fantastic game Codenames Duet.   Check out the words in the grid. Ignore the colors; they're just the ones I had on hand.  If you’re playing with a partner, pick any 2 or 3 terms from the grid, and give your partner a one-word clue to help them guess your terms--without stumbling onto any that you didn't pick. Your partner can do the same for you. No hints! Just say your clue word and the number of terms it should point toward. If you're playing solo, try to guess 2 terms in the grid by using this clue: "grips." To see these answers, scroll all the way down. If you need any definitions, give these a click:       wellspring, sluice, anthology,      bezel, vise, ramrod,      railroad, manacle, patina. review this word: 1. The opposite of JERRY-BUILT is A. HAPHAZARD. B. OVERWROUGHT. C. WELL-CRAFTED. 2. A writer for the Seattle Times described some sculptures as "strong in form, but _____ in surface, giving the impression of something both powerful and jerry-built." A. ugly B. crude C. delicate Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B Answers to the game question: With the clue "grips," I was trying to point you toward vise and manacle. a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.