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In maritime transport terms, and most commonly in sailing, jury-rigged^[1] is an adjective, a noun, and a verb. It can describe the actions of temporary makeshift running repairs made with only the tools and materials on board; and the subsequent results thereof. The origin of jury-rigged and jury-rigging lies in such efforts done on boats and ships, characteristically sail powered to begin with. Jury-rigging can be applied to any part of a ship; be it its super-structure (hull, decks), propulsion systems (mast, sails, rigging, engine, transmission, propeller), or controls (helm, rudder, centreboard, daggerboards, rigging).

Similarly, after a dismasting, a replacement mast, often referred to as a jury mast^[2] (and if necessary, yard) would be fashioned, and stayed to allow a watercraft to resume making way.

Etymology

The phrase 'jury-rigged' has been in use since at least 1788.^[2] 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's A Description of New England.^[2] It appeared in Smith's more extensive The General History of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles published in 1624.^[3]

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. From French jour: 'a day'.^[4]
• From the Latin adjutare: 'to aid'; via Old French ajurie: 'help' or 'relief'.^[5]

Rigging

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 makeshift sail.

Ships typically carried a selection of spare parts, e.g., items such as topmasts. However, due to their much larger size, at up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) in diameter, the lower masts were too large to carry as spares. Example jury-rig configurations include:

• A spare topmast
• The main boom of a brig
• Replacing the foremast with the mizzenmast (mentioned in William N. Brady's The Kedge Anchor, or Young Sailors' Assistant, 1852)
• The bowsprit set upright and tied to the stump of the original mast.

The jury mast knot may provide anchor points for securing makeshift stays and shrouds to support a jury mast, although there is differing evidence of the knot's actual historical use.^[6][7][8]

Jury-rigs are not limited to boats designed for sail propulsion. Any form of watercraft 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.^[1]

Similar terms

• 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.^[9][10][11] The blended terms jerry rigging and jerry-rigged are also common.^[12]
• The American terms Afro engineering (short for African engineering)^[13] or nigger-rigging^[14] 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.^[15] Nigger-rigging originated in the 1950s United States;^[13] the term was euphemized as afro engineering in the 1970s^[14][16] and later again as ghetto rigging. The terms have been used in the U.S. auto mechanic industry to describe quick makeshift repairs.^[17] These phrases have largely fallen out of common usage due to their colloquial nature, but are occasionally used within the African-American community.^{[18][19][20][21]}
• Another American expression is redneck technology.^[22]
• To MacGyver (or MacGyverize) something is to rig up something in a hurry using materials at hand, from the title character of the American television show of the same name, who specialized in such improvisation stunts.^[23]
• In New Zealand, having a Number 8 wire mentality means to have the ability to make or repair something using any materials at hand, such as standard farm fencing wire.^[24]
• In British slang, bodge and bodging refer to doing a job serviceably but inelegantly using whatever tools and materials are at hand; the term derives from bodging, for expedient woodturning using unseasoned, green wood (especially branches recently removed from a nearby tree).
• The chiefly American term do-it-yourself (DIY) relatedly refers to creating, repairing, or modifying things without professional or expert assistance.
• Similar concepts in other languages include: jugaad in Hindi and jugaar in Urdu, urawaza (裏技) in Japanese, tapullo in Genoese dialect, tǔ fǎ (土法) in Chinese, Trick 17 in German, desenrascar in Portuguese an gambiarra in Brazilian Portuguese, système D in French, jua kali in Swahili. Several equivalent terms in South Africa are n boer maak 'n plan in Afrikaans, izenzele in Zulu, iketsetse in Sotho, and itirele in Tswana.^[25]