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I'm curious about the now forbidden use of the term "(the N-word)-rigging", used in the context of jury-rigging. Is it something that's a holdover from the slave and afterward days in the South, or was it used all over the country? I live in Texas, but when I lived in Washington, D.C. for 9 years, I never heard this term used. Of course, that was in the early '80s, and the use of the N-word was becoming verboten at that time. Was it something said in the south predominately, or was it nationwide? Is (was) the term used in any other countries, or only here, or only in the south?
I can't help notice that other replies have shied away from the real question, because it is a hot-button (racial) issue.
Of course, in those benighted days of yore, juries were overwhelmingly white — a franchise linked to property ownership or other status symbols — and if enough of the panel were prejudiced (as often was the case), no black defendant could possibly get a fair trial. And frequently didn't.
N****r-rigging would be a pejorative applied by prejudiced whites — I don't know where it started, but I can imagine it would spread — who imagine that “fair†trials with integrated (or black-heavy) panels would only allow (presumably guilty) black defendants free — and they would ALL be presumed guilty, Constitutional guarantees notwithstanding.
I see no reason to assume it originated in the South -- us Northerners have had our less-than-stellar moments in race relations as well.
I don't think anyone is "shying away" from the question. We have discussed racial issues here before. I'm guessing that none of us has heard this particular expression before. Have you? I looked it up in the Urban Dictionary; it means poorly built, which means it's an expression created by unimaginative racists.
My experience with this idea in Indiana has always given 'jury-rigging' the sub-text of fixed by committee. Although, I have heard more than once that it describes something made as if by a journeyman craftsman. (ie. not up to master quality)
As for the N****r-rigging, I have heard it used for many decades. And although I don't use it because of the N-word, the connotation has always been patched as is currently available without extra cash outlay. I had heard my grandfather use the term alongside 'pauper's patch'.
Strangely enough, one of the new slang terms I have heard for this is a 'redneck retrofit'.
Not that I can speak for all rednecks, but many of us celebrate Jeff Foxworthy.
BTW, samaphore, your avatar shows you to also be a redneck from the origin of the word. About 100 years ago all of the townies buttoned their collars while the country folks wore their collars open. Hence, the townies' necks were white while the country folks necks were red (tanned).
So, with your open collar, samaphore, are you offended if I call you a redneck?
Emmett
Gee, Emmett, I always thought that my unbuttoned shirts made me sexy, like Austin Powers, not a redneck!
There is a reason that I don't button the top button, unless I have to for formal occasions. I have a big, fat neck. I wear large size shirts (42 chest), but apparently my neck is bigger than the average for my shirt size. If I button the top button it feels like I'm choking a bit. When I first saw the musical Evita, I instantly identified with the descamisados.
So, in answer to your question, you can call me a fatneck.
Kenny Chesney's lyrics illustrate that redneck and sexy are not mutually exclusive. :-/ (country boy, with straw sticking out of his mouth, smiley)
I'm XL; sixteen and one-half inch collars are too tight, seventeen I think works (it's been a while since I buttoned a collar), and eighteen is roomy. I guess, then, either fatneck or redneck applies.
Emmett
Etymology Fan said:
heathbug said:
Of course, that was in the early '80s, and the use of the N-word was becoming verboten at that time.
The “n word†wasn't already verboten? Well, I suppose that it was probably more verboten in some places than in others.
Not in the south it wasn't. In fact, it is still used by some rednecks in the south, including Texas.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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