Dear Geist,

Is “jerry-built” an insult to people of German descent? I used it in a story about building a tree house when I was a kid. Then I remembered my Irish-Canadian grandpa saying mean things about “jerries,” meaning Germans. (He fought in World War II.)

Dear Mitchell,

is an accidental conflation of the two terms—not unusual when several similar expressions are floating around in spoken language.

(17th century). The proximity of the terms is too bad, considering their actual origins. Then again, people in countries around the world use the German invention jerry-cans—containers that have made it easier and safer to transport water, fuel and other goods—without any grudge against Germany.

will be offensive to readers in any way, whether or not there are good grounds for it, you may choose to reword the passage.