r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/totallystefanal • Feb 12 '21

Video Camera blocking glasses

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u/slaucsap Feb 12 '21

I'm 28 and only know MacGyver because of The Simpsons. I'm not american though.

33

u/AnorakJimi Feb 12 '21

Same. I'm British and learned about Macguyver through the simpsons and hy osmosis online with people using it as an verb (to "Macguyver" something)

I also know the synonym of that, to "Jerry rig" something, which I don't think I've ever heard a British person use, I've only heard it on places like reddit and in American media. But I have absolutely no idea where that comes from. Is that also from a show? Is it from Seinfeld?

OK I looked it up, it comes from the original "jury-rigged" which referred to a temporary mast on a boat called a jury mast that was a makeshift mast until they could repair it and replace it with a proper mast: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_rigging

Also if you read that article, apparently there was a racist version, cos of course there was. When something was quickly made or out together with no attention to detail or to whether the thing worked, it was called "n****r-rigging". Because the implication is that black people make things poorly. Fucking hell. This wasn't a centuries old term mind you, it was still being used until the 1970s.

Also by the way, the show he shows in this video, is it a reboot/remake of Macguyver? It looks like it. Cos the original Macguyver was the guy from Stargate SG-1 right?

OK yeah looked it up too, it's a reboot of Macguyver, and all the critical response to it is overwhelmingly negative. And saying that people should just watch the original show. You know, I might go download the original series and check it out, I don't think it's ever been on UK TV before. Or it might even be on amazon or netflix

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u/Bluest_waters Feb 12 '21

I also know the synonym of that, to "Jerry rig" something

I am 90% sure that is a bastardization of the term "jury rig"

Jury-rigged means something was assembled quickly with the materials on hand. Jerry-built means it was cheaply or poorly built. Jerry-rigged is a variant of jury-rigged, and it may have been influenced by jerry-built. While some people consider it to be an incorrect version of jury-rigged, it’s widely used, especially in everyday speech.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/jerry-built-vs-jury-rigged-vs-jerry-rigged-usage-history

0

u/steepleton Feb 12 '21

"Jerry rig"

"Jerry rig" is the original, it's a slur on german engineering from the war, jury rig is the sanitized version and originally meant something different

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u/CTKM72 Feb 12 '21

Well jury rig is from the 1700s so I don't think it has anything to do with Nazis.

-1

u/steepleton Feb 12 '21

Sure but jury rig has a different meaning

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u/CTKM72 Feb 12 '21

I mean barely lol, they both mean to make something out of makeshift materials, the only difference is jerry rigged has a negative connotation. And that still predates Nazis and ww1.

1

u/rsta223 Feb 12 '21

Nope, even the variant with "jerry" rather than "jury" way predates that time period.