[Origin not ascertained.
That jerry-builder and jerry-built originated in some way from the name Jerry is probable; but the statement made in a letter to the newspapers in Jan. 1884, that they commemorate the name of a building firm on the Mersey, has on investigation not been confirmed. The earliest example yet found is that of jerry-built 1869.]
A speculating builder who ‘runs up’ unsubstantially built houses of inferior materials.
1881. Young, Every Man his own Mechanic, 536. It is unfortunately too often the habit of builders—or rather jerry builders—to use the worst possible description of bricks.
1886. Besant, Childr. Gibeon, II. xvii. The jerry-builder walks there alone and wonders how long his houses are likely to stand.
1890. Guardian, 15 Oct., 1605/1. Even Norman Cathedrals reveal the ‘jerry builder.’
So Jerry-build v. trans., to build unsubstantially and of bad materials; Jerry-building, the speculative building of houses, etc., of bad materials and unsubstantial workmanship.
1885. J. E. C. Munro, Legal Posit. Landlords & Tenants, 164. To put an end to the jerry building.
1890. Sir N. Barnaby, in Daily News, 15 Nov., 6/2. As to jerry-building of the ships…. He would say that anything in the nature of jerry-building was absolutely impossible at any dockyard in the United Kingdom.
1893. G. Allen, in Westm. Gaz., 19 Dec., 2/1. It takes half a year to jerry-build a dingy street.
