jig/gig

[Paul]

At 72, last time I heard Jigaboo was during WWII and it wasn't very
popular then

Wilson Gray wrote:
> Surely, "jig(aboo)" = black, colored, Negro, African-American, etc,.
> etc., has not been
> resurrected?! I don't think that I've ever heard it in the wild. I
> know it only from literature and the movies. Or am I mistaken in
> assuming that it ever died, in the first place?
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 9/18/07, Dennis R. Preston <preston at msu.edu> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: jig/gig
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Could some ESA (ethnic slur avoidance) be going on here? I have seen
>> younger people look nervous at uses of "jig" even when it clearly
>> refers to a dance.
>>
>> While on ESA's, the local (but expanding) East Lansing coffee outfit
>> "Beaner's" has decided to become "Biggbys" (since it logo is a "Big
>> B"). They want to avoid the slur of Hispanics (principally Mexicans
>> and Mexican-Americans), and the change seems preemptive rather than
>> reactive.
>>
>> I'm not sure how they will avoid the stress pattern implied by
>> "Biggby" (with weak stress on the last syllable) when they obviously
>> want their new name to recall the logo, but wadn't no linguists
>> consulted.
>>
>> dInIs
>>
>>
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Laurence Urdang <urdang at SBCGLOBAL.NET>
>>> Subject:      jig/gig
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> What I would qualify for inclusion in the burgeoning list of
>>> Fractured Idioms is the recently heard, "the gig is up."
>>>   "The jig is up" has cites going back to the 18th century, but it
>>> must be admitted that today, "the gig is up" has more meaning to
>>> those familiar with the entertainment business.  Danse macabre there
>>> somewhere?
>>>   L. Urdang
>>>   Old Lyme
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>
>> --
>> It should be the chief aim of a university professor to exhibit
>> himself [sic] in his own true character - that is, as an ignorant man
>> thinking, actively utilizing his small share of knowledge. Alfred
>> North Whitehead
>>
>> Dennis R. Preston
>> University Distinguished Professor
>> Department of English
>> Morrill Hall 15-C
>> Michigan State University
>> East Lansing, MI 48824-1036 USA
>> Office: (517) 353-4736
>> Fax: (517) 353-3755
>>
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
>                                               -Sam'l Clemens
>
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>
>
>

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Can you surge, right over the edge?

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