Posting will be light this week as I must teach, travel to North Carolina to give a talk on Wednesday, and I’m still recovering from a tummy virus. But, as Maru says, “I do my best.”
Chicago has been particularly picturesque this week. Last night it was foggy, and I couldn’t see the skyscrapers downtown, but the view of the University of Chicago from my crib was eerie (Click to enlarge):
Fog is a favorite photography subject. Nice
Couldn’t find a better place, so here goes. Call it word fog. On page 84 of WEIT, you speak of “jerry-rigged” features. There’s no reason to add to the use of your name as a synonym for “shoddy”. You (as have many others) have elided “Jury-rigged” a nautical term, to “Jerry-built” a reference to poorly constructed houses. The “jury-rig” refers to an emergency repair at sea to a vital structure. Etymology varies, some citing French words, others noting that when the steering gear on a ship broke, it took about 12 men to steer with the emergency tiller. (12 to a jury).
Why this act of self-defamation? Isn’t “Jerry-built” enough? And though its spelled differently, you’ve also got to live down “Gerrymander”, though at least this refers to the kind of critter evolutionary biologists deal with. (An electoral district so contrived to get the incumbent re-elected that it looked like a salamander on the map)
Very cool. Looks post-apocalyptic.
“tummy virus”??? Or, aflatoxins in peanut butter, combined with some hamburger bacteria?
A high percentage of food-originated bacterial stomach woes are written off as a “virus” and go unreported.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/601762_10151868864087166_1478418694_n.jpg
🙂