the.com/jerry can
Nazi engineering so good the Allies stole the design and the name.
means A sturdy, flat-sided metal (or plastic) container, typically holding about 20 liters, designed for safely transporting fuel or water.
from A wartime nickname: "Jerry" was British slang for a German soldier, and the can was a German design — the Wehrmacht's robust 20-liter fuel container, the Wehrmachtskanister. Allied troops admired it so much they copied both the engineering and the name, dubbing it the "Jerry can" because it was the German one. The slang "Jerry" itself is uncertain in origin — possibly just a clipping of "German," possibly suggested by the chamber-pot shape of the WWI helmet (a "jerry" being old slang for a chamber pot) — but the can is firmly named for the enemy who built it first.
- origin
- German army can, hence 'jerry,' WWII slang for Germans
- clever design
- Three handles let one person grab two cans
- air pocket
- Built-in space lets it float when full
- war prize
- Allies reverse-engineered it after capturing samples
- capacity
- Holds exactly 20 liters, by deliberate design