Jerry can
Posted by Smokey Stover on March 30, 2006
In Reply to: Jerry can posted by Steve Wilson-Burgess on March 30, 2006
: where did the "jerry can" originate from , was it a German fuel can, if so what were british fuel cans called ?
From the OED: "jerrican, jerrycan: A five-gallon (usu. metal) container for petrol, water, etc., of a type first used in Germany and later adopted by the Allied forces in the war of 1939-45." The OED also gives citations bearing out this definition. The British fuel cans were called jerry cans because their design copied that of the jerries' can. SS