This expression may be based on DeghwI' ("helmsman"). There is no known verb Degh, but if there were such a word, presumably it would mean "steer," and DeghwI', then, would be literally "one who steers," formed from Degh plus the suffix -wI' ("one who does [something]"). There is a related noun Degh ("helm"), but since -wI' follows only verbs, there must have been a verb Degh at one time that has fallen out of use, at least in the sense of "steer." It is the absence of a verb Degh from the standard vocabulary that makes this term slang and that also allows it to have a specialized meaning: not "steer" in the usual sense of guiding a vessel along a set course or defined path but rather in the sense of maneuvering without a plan, without a set course or path. In the standard vocabulary, there is no single word equivalent meaning "improvise" or the like, but the idea can be expressed in a phrase such as nab Hutlh 'ach vang ("He/she lacks a plan, but he/she takes action"; nab, "plan"; Hutlh, "He/she lacks it"; 'ach, "but"; vang, "He/she takes action").