Duct tape, hot melt glue, rubber bands and walt disney

fronobulax

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The phrase "Hone in" for example never existed before the last decade**, the real term is "home in" as in homing pigeon and even more precisely "homing signal" radio navigation aids and direction finders.

Get someone with the right accent and both phrases begin to sound the same. The "problem" didn't exist until someone had to write things down.

Ignoring accents, in my youth the previous generation sharpened knives by hand and whetstone and a well sharpened blade had been "honed in". I can argue that the terms mean the same thing - using an iterative or repetitive process to improve something.
 

adorshki

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Get someone with the right accent and both phrases begin to sound the same. The "problem" didn't exist until someone had to write things down.

Ignoring accents, in my youth the previous generation sharpened knives by hand and whetstone and a well sharpened blade had been "honed in". I can argue that the terms mean the same thing - using an iterative or repetitive process to improve something.

Except "Home in" never had the "improve/make sharper" connotation like "honing one's skills". (Note there was never a "hone in on one's skills" usage that I ever saw)
And "Hone in" is used where "Seek and find" is intended.
Merriams however did bring up that "focus in" connotation as being a legitimate usage for both, although as noted dates the first usage of "hone in" to '65 far later than the period I suspect you're referring to..
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hone in
Seek and ye shall hone.
:glee:
(Or should it be "Hone and ye shall find"?)
 
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Prince of Darkness

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Never heard the term Jerry rigged, but am familiar with Jerry built, which is a term for poorly constructed buildings. There was a scene in the TV series Auf Wiedersehen Pet (about English construction workers in Germany) where the origin of the term was discussed. One of the workers (who was rather prejudiced against the Germans) claimed that it was a criticism of German building standards, but another corrected him, saying that it was a reference to the walls of Jericho :redface-new:
 

Nuuska

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Say what?

something about eggplants and do-hickeys!


You Guys are just being lazy. Al is known for his intensive searches in the depths of internet ( at work ??? ) - so he could have used the Google Translator, which gives the answer - "I humbly apologize publicly for not being native English!"

Amazingly the translation is correct. Individual words translate right most of the time - sentences tend to turn out funny - at least when translating from English to Finnish.


[url]https://translate.google.fi/?hl=fi#view=home&op=translate&sl=fi&tl=en&text=N%C3%B6yrimmin%20pyyd%C3%A4n%20julkisesti%20anteeksi%2C%20ett%C3%A4%20%C3%A4idinkieleni%20ei%20ole%20englanti
![/URL]
 

adorshki

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According to The Urban Dictionary:
Mickey Mouse: amateurish or substandard
(Could be talking about my guitar skills)
To repair something shoddily and with substandard materials
Also some other pretty funny usages....
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mickey+mouse

Right, but the original question is "How did that usage come to be?"
I still think the etymology I described in post #9 is the real answer; but also know it may have been missed as the thread kept a-rollin'...
:smile:

You Guys are just being lazy. Al is known for his intensive searches in the depths of internet ( at work ??? ) - so he could have used the Google Translator, which gives the answer - "I humbly apologize publicly for not being native English!"

Actually I was just playing the cut-up to your perfect straightman foil:
The Martin to your Rowan.
The Lewis to your Martin.
The Belushi to your Aykroyd.
The....
sorry, watched an Austin Powers flick last night...
:smile:
 
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