jerry-built
adjEtymology Unknown; there are many theories. I was led to believe it referred to houses built by German pow’s See jerry (possibly etymologically related).
1
Built cheaply and shoddily.
- 1832, Liverpool Mercury, ‘…members of the Bluebell Club, the Jerry-Building society, &c…’ (via https://theprioryandthecastironshore.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/jerry-builder-origin-of-the-term/)
- He had tried other building speculations, had run up other “jerry-built” houses, and had failed utterly, hopelessly.1859, August 6, Albany Fonblanque, Junr., Once a Week, article Sebastopol Villa
1 more example
- Reigns supreme for jerry-built Houses tricked out with gorgeous gilt, Like cakes o' gingerbread, that crumble, And in another century 'll tumble1859, L. B. E, Cottoniron; a Poem, part 1, canto 3:
- Derived terms
- jerry-rigged
- Related terms
- jerry-build, jerry-builder, jerrybuilder, jury-rigged, scratch-built, shoddy