6 Comments

1. Sean FitzGerald (aka Sean McDunnough)
   Posted January 9, 2007 at 8:44 pm | Permalink

   Scuttlebutt
   From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttlebut

   The nautical term Scuttlebutt originally (and still) means a water fountain or water cask on a ship. However, it is now more commonly used as slang for “information” or “gossip”.

   Water for immediate consumption on a sailing ship was conventionally stored in a sailor’s butt: a butt (cask or small barrel) which had been scuttled by making a hole in it so the water could be withdrawn. Since Sailors exchanged gossip when they gathered at the scuttlebutt for a drink of water, scuttlebutt became U.S. Navy slang for gossip or rumors.

   Thanks in advance for my $5000L.

2. Sean FitzGerald (aka Sean McDunnough)
   Posted January 9, 2007 at 8:54 pm | Permalink

   Oh! No fair! Inside job!! Cronyism sucks!

   Was that Mark you were talking to and who got the loot? You didn’t introduce him.

3. Sean FitzGerald (aka Sean McDunnough)
   Posted January 9, 2007 at 8:57 pm | Permalink

   I am nothing if not persistent!

   Jury rig
   From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_rig

   Jury rigging (or jerry rigging) refers to makeshift repairs or substitutes, made with only the tools and materials that happen to be on hand.

   Nautical use

   On sailing ships, the jury rig is a replacement mast and yards improvised in case of loss of the original mast.

   Etymology

   There are these theories about the origin of the term “jury” in this sense:

   * A Latin and Old French root meaning “aid” or “succour”.
   * “jury-mast” derived from “injury-mast”.
   * From French du jour = “of the day”, thus `temporary’.
   * Some believe that “jerry-rig” comes from “Jerry”, slang for “German”, but this is an inaccurate folk etymology.

   Rigging

   While ships typically carried a number of spare parts such as topmasts, the lower masts, at up to one meter in diameter, were too large to carry spares. So a jury mast could be various things. Contemporary drawings and paintings show a wide variety of jury rigs, attesting to the creativity of sailors faced with the need to save their ships. Examples are

   * A spare topmast.
   * The main boom of a brig.
   * To replace the foremast with the mizzenmast: mentioned in W. Brady’s The Kedge Anchor (1852),
   * The bowsprit set upright and tied to the stump of the real mast.

   Traditionally a Jury mast knot provided the anchor points for securing makeshift stays and shrouds to the new mast. Ships always carried a variety of spare sails, so rigging the jury mast once erected was mostly a matter of selecting appropriately sized spares.

   Although ships were observed to perform reasonably well under jury rig, the rig was quite a bit weaker than the original, and the ship’s first priority was normally to steer for the nearest friendly port and get replacement masts.

   Other forms

   The term “jerry-rigged” derives from confusion with “jerry-built”, implying shoddy workmanship. [1] “Jimmy-rig” has also been used to denote an improvised repair.

4. Mark Wallace
   Posted January 10, 2007 at 5:48 pm | Permalink

   Yeah, and where’s my 3pointD link?? Jeez, ya’d think a guy would be grateful after we put him in the Herald. jk, Reuben, that was fun, thanks for the opportunity. Talk to you soon.

5. Reuben
   Posted January 11, 2007 at 3:54 pm | Permalink

   Sean:

   Well done, twice over. L$5000 is in your account.

   R

6. Sean FitzGerald (aka Sean McDunnough)
   Posted January 12, 2007 at 6:19 am | Permalink

   Thanks dude! I’m off on a SL shopping spree now!