10-09-2017, 12:02 PM
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#7148 (permalink)
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Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,996
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lisnaholic
^ Yep, the whole stunt was a disgraceful waste of taxpayers' money, prob to deflect people's attention from what's really being worked out by the Trump admin, e.g. the surreptitious sabotaging of Obamacare, the review of gerrymandering, the absense of any plan apart from bluster regarding NKorea, etc.
Oddly enough, that's exactly where the word comes from; Gerry Whoknows, an American polititian, carved out a constituency the shape of a salamander to maximise the effect of his supporters.
Yes, what with Jerries=Huns, jerry-building, gerrymandering and jerry-rigging, people called Jerry probably feel unfairly put upon. For different reasons, people called "Willie,""Dick" or "Fanny" might feel aggrieved too.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Janszoon
That is exactly the origin of the word actually. It's named after Governor Elbridge Gerry, who became infamous for creating a voting district that was shaped like a salamander.

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That's just amazing. When a lot younger I wrote some sort of fantasy story in which I had a creature called a gerrymander. Must have heard the phrase somewhere as a kid. Damn salamanders: always turning the heat up!
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
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