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Where did the term afro engineered came from?

After one particularly challenging temporary repair job- we here at the office were curious if any one might know where this term originated or why?

Update:

Yeah- I know the other phrase I just really wondered who the heck thought of that?

If people could just see what us office chicks just rigged up- I hope an electrican gets here before we burn the place down- lol

Update 2:

Thank you everyone- thankfully the electrician showed up today and my jerry,jimmy rigged job is now adios.

7 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    It was the politer (but not by much) way to describing something as N*gger-rigged" ie something that was hastily fixed just for the sake of making it work again ASAP like how a resentful unpaid black guy may fix something back in the olden days in the South. I am a Yankee and we describe similar things as jerry-rigged

  • 1 decade ago

    I'm sure you probably heard people say something had been "Geri rigged" or "Ghetto rigged" or something like that using the "N word" instead "Geri". Well "Afro Engineered" is pretty much a nicer cleaner way to say that something has been fixed half assed. It does come from a racially derogatory origin. Back in the day it was used to describe something that was fixed very badly as if a black person had fixed it, since they thought blacks weren't smart enough to repair things. People don't really know that though and so people still use the phrase unaware of what it means.

  • 1 decade ago

    It did originate from a rude racist term. Steve's example of "jerry-rigged" did too; that originally referred to Germans. There's probably been a version denigrating almost every ethnic group, appearing when each particular group comprised the latest swell of immigrants at any given time.

    In Texas, we make fun of the Aggies this way even though we're very proud of Texas A & M University.

    We can say, instead, what you said in your question, "temporary repair job." Or, "improvisation."

  • 1 decade ago

    It's a more politically correct way of saying a phrase that I really can't write here. It originated with racist white people using it to describe something that was poorly put together or "fixed" in a fashion that was less than adequate.

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    during the 60`s when you vwbus broke down and you used a coat hanger or whatever to temp. repair. because it was thought that they could`nt fix anything right.

  • 1 decade ago

    There's a much more common phrase, but it is pretty racial. It's ***-rigged.

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