the jig is up

[victor steinbok]

Pseudo-racist? In mid-1700s? You don't say!

Well, actually, I missed that discussion. But I did find it.

it's from Sep 18, 2007 and Arnold Zwicky, in response, included the
link to the CBC page I brought up earlier.

Jon had added, at the time:

> Jig" was often spelled "gig" in the 17th C.
>
> So...well...just an observation.

This is true, although it was quite a jumble with j/i/g in front and
single or double -g at the end. But would it be fair to say that they
were all /pronounced/ the same way, unlike "gig" today? (seems to be
the point of Arnold's remark within that thread as well, and Charlie's
point above)

Now, for the "pseudo-racist" origins, I just don't see it. "Jig" as
performance and dance goes deep into the 18th century and likely
earlier--OED has the dance to 1560. The only records in dictionaries
to racially-charged "jig" and "jigaboo" are all from the 20th century.
So there may be avoidance /now/ because of assumed (but incorrect)
association, but I found no "pseudo-racist" origins.

Of course, if there is some 16th-18th century material that I missed,
I'll be glad to be educated on the subject. Yeah, maybe there is some
ESA like "niggardly", but I have not seen or heard it--perhaps I'm
just unaware.

VS-)

On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 4:01 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> We've discussed the pseudo-racist origin of the "the jig is up."
>
> By sheer coincidence, two young whippersnapper professionals in their '40s
> were incredulous on Saturday when the phrase arose and I stupidly
> explained that the "usual" version was "The jig is up."
>
> They insisted that "gig" was correct, because (get ready) "What's 'jig'
> mean? A jigsaw? What sense does that make?" My explanation that a "jig" was
> a kind of dance was greeted with suspicion. "Nobody says, 'The  dance is
> up.' They say 'The dance is over.'"
>
> Kids today.
>
>  JL

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