**Jury-rig** for a verb; **kludge** for a noun or verb > To erect, construct, or arrange in a makeshift fashion. [M-W][1] > To assemble quickly or from whatever is at hand, especially for > temporary use: > > *To jury-rig stage lights using automobile headlights.* [dictionary.com][2] Using the verb for anything makeshift may be more AmE. The OED limits it to nautical usage: >**Jury**, adj. > > I. Compounds. > > 1. *Nautical*. Used in combination to designate parts of a ship put together or contrived for temporary use. Categories > > a. jury-rig n. > > b. jury-rig v. > > c. jury-rigged adj. ---------- > Etymology > > The phrase 'jury-rigged' has been in use since at least 1788. **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.* It appeared in > Smith's more extensive *The General History of Virginia, New-England, > and the Summer Isles* published in 1624. > > 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'. > >• From the Latin *adjutare*: 'to aid'; via Old French > *ajurie*: 'help' or 'relief'. [Wikipedia][3] >**jury-rig; jerry-build; jerry-rig; gerry-rig.** The first is an authentic nautical phrase, dating from the early 17th century. Derived > from *jury-mast* (= temporary replacement for a ship's broken mast), > the *jury* part here has nothing to do with 12 peers deciding > someone's fate. Instead, according the Barnhardt's *Dictionary of > Etymology*, it probably derives from the Old French word *ajurie* ( = > help) ... [Garner's Modern English Usage][4] (2009) > ---------- For a modern noun, we have > **Kludge** or **kluge** (n) > > A haphazard or makeshift solution to a problem and especially to a > computer or programming problem > > *Just getting your documents into and out of the iPad is a kludge. You must e-mail them back and forth to yourself or sync to your computer > using iTunes software. —Steve Morgenstern* [M-W][5] >**Kludge** (v.) > > (informal) To build or use a kludge. [Wiktionary][6] ---------- > Both the *OED* and *Green's Dictionary of Slang* credit Jackson W. > Granholm as the first person to use the term. In his 1962 essay "How > to Design a Kludge," he defines kludge as "An ill-assorted collection > of poorly-matching parts, forming a distressing whole." The *OED* > calls it a "jocular invention." [Ace Pilkington et al.; *Science > Fiction and Futurism: Their Terms and Ideas*][8] (2017) ---------- > **Jury-Rigging and Whatnot** > > Figure 10.1 shows one of my favorite examples of **jury-rigging**. Ian > Wilkerson, a colleague in Sydney, had a leak in his roof and asked a > journeyman friend to help. The man rigged a funnel attached below the > leak, to a tube leading out the front door over a railing, drooping > toward the ground, slowly draining. Finding that a lamp in his house > was hanging too low, the man also slung the lamp cord over the tube, > **jury rigging on jury rigging**. [Stuart Kauffman; *A World Beyond Physics: The Emergence and Evolution of Life*][9] (2019) > We continually **jury-rig** aspects of our outward appearance, persona, > and achievements in order to gain the acceptance and accolades from > others that we can't provide to ourselves. [Laurie Warren; *Wild > World, Joyful Heart*][10] (2019) > But the most puzzling thing about it was that the whole thing seemed > to be just **jury-rigged**–as if someone had done no more than a hurried, > patch-up job to get the set back in working order on an emergency and > temporary basis. [Clifford Simak; *The Big Front Yard*][11] (2015) > ---------- Examples of *kludge* outside of IT: > The liberal state may therefore be thought of as a ***kludge***—an > inelegant, workaround solution to the otherwise intractable problem of > banishing the political means. It seems clear to me that we liberals > don't know how to eliminate the political means altogether. [Jason > Kuznicki; *Technology and the End of Authority*][12] (2017) > In light of these issues, perhaps we should think of increasing block > rates as “policy **kludges**” that are “clumsy but temporarily > effective” while ultimately leading to larger problems... [Ronald > Griffin; *Water Resource Economics*][13] (2016) > When we are young, often we rush and are tempted to **kludge**. We > come up with a fix and think, “Eh, it's not perfect, but it'll do for > now.” If you are not careful, as you get older, those quick fixes can > become permanently fixed in your ways. [Twyla Tharp; *Keep it > Moving*][7] (2020) [1]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jury-rig [2]: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/jury-rig [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_rigging#:~:text=Two%20theories%20about%20the%20origin%20of%20this%20usage,been%20carried%20away.%20From%20French%20jour%3A%20%27a%20day%27. [4]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Garner_s_Modern_English_Usage/mSjnCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jury-rig&pg=PA541&printsec=frontcover [5]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kludge [6]: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kludge [7]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Keep_It_Moving/nBgIEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=we%20kludge&pg=PA141&printsec=frontcover [8]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Science_Fiction_and_Futurism/a2VEDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=kludge&pg=PT102&printsec=frontcover [9]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_World_Beyond_Physics/VAuXDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jury-rigged&pg=PA120&printsec=frontcover [10]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wild_World_Joyful_Heart/1R-wDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jury-rigged&pg=PT97&printsec=frontcover [11]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Big_Front_Yard/CWd5CgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jury-rigged&pg=PT26&printsec=frontcover [12]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Technology_and_the_End_of_Authority/NP_6DQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=kludge&pg=PA179&printsec=frontcover [13]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Water_Resource_Economics_second_edition/qUe6CwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=kludge&pg=PA303&printsec=frontcover