Photo: Antonin Scalia photo by Stephen Masker Posted on 07/08/2015 4:37:58 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell
What Does "Jiggery-Pokery" Mean? Antonin Scalia's Unapologetic Use of Rhyming Photo: Antonin Scalia photo by Stephen Masker
The announcement today of the Supreme Court's decision on the fate of Obamacare was met online with paroxysms of delight, rage, and (in slightly smaller quantity) amusement. The feelings of delight and rage were largely motivated by one's political leanings; the feelings of amusement were provoked by a phrase employed by Antonin Scalia.
In his dissent, Scalia waxed furious about the "interpretive jiggery-pokery" employed, in his view, by the majority of the court in their decision. Few onlookers took exception with the word interpretive, but what follows that word is a turn of phrase rarely seen in legal writing, and aroused the interest of many.
Jiggery-pokery (meaning "dishonest or suspicious activity") is a fine example of what is referred to as rhyming reduplication, and Scalia appears to have more of a fondness for this type of language than do most of his fellow justices (he used the phrase argle-bargle several years ago in another decision). There are many such examples in English; razzle-dazzle, teeny-weeny, nitty-gritty, and perhaps the most applicable of all for use in a Supreme Court decision: phony-baloney.
Jiggery-pokery comes from Britain, as does most of the finest rhyming slang and spicy mustards, and has long been thought to have originated at the end of the 19th century. However, recent research has indicated that it is older than previously thought. The earliest known use of the phrase comes in 1845, in an article of December 27th from the Berkshire Chronicle (a newspaper from Reading, England), entitled Protection to Agriculture: "...under the present law, the averages were made up so faithfully and fairly as to prevent any jiggery-pokery."
Based on the above citation, Scalia can now point out that jiggery-pokery has been used to describe legal matters for at least 170 years, and as such, should be considered stare decisis, or at least settled law.
Gittin Jiggery Pokery wid it.
Now here is a fine turn of phrase.
All you poets, lyricists and limericists will Have fun with rhyming reduplication thanks to our favorite justice Scalia.
Have at it, and, remember, awards for everyone! Because everyone on this thread is daring do.
.jpg)
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.
It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same,
or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children
and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
President Ronald Reagan
Eyew...it sounds too much like the latest SCOTUS decision.
They’d considered their options. They buried misdeeds.
They thought they had the belly for it... and they dared to try.
But then Jiggery Pokery Hillary got attention, and her minions are now digging into the histories, and her wrath will follow.
LOL...a swinish thought, indeed!
I thought his was the usual WFTD and hesitated to click on it since anything I said might either be construed as Racist/ sexist, or get me banned even though it would be completely true.
Iffen you drink too many whiskey Jiggerys, you’re Pokery sessions will become very expensive.
Kagan and Ginsburg were indeed guilty of jiggery-pokery, when they refused to recuse themselves even though they had presided over several “gay” “weddings” each!!!
But hoity-toity ex-academics attack Scalia for his use of the word “ jiggery-pokery” (and his “obsolete ideas”), while leaving Kagan and Ginsburg and their unethical behavior alone!!!!
Conservatives and Christians must REFUSE to be namby-pamby, and stand up to the “gays” and their vile “allies”!!!!!
Or else, America is down the toilet! Uh-oh!!!!
Just like the word “niggardly”, the WOTD COULD be, by an ignorant observer/hearer be construed as “racist”.
I am waiting for some talking head to claim it is a racist term derived from the word jigaboo.
To wit:
Sorry, no awards given for perceived microaggressions.
Help! I'm being micro-aggressed!
The jiggery-pokery that has been engaged in by the current congress, SCOTUS, and POTUS and their disdain for the Constitution serve to explain the why so many Americans have no respect for them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.