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To: Paul Ross
"Jig is Up!"

Thank you so much for writing that correctly. I am so tired of reading "the gig is up". Thanks again.

185 posted on 05/27/2006 10:45:06 AM PDT by Irene Adler
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To: Irene Adler
"Jig is Up!" Thank you so much for writing that correctly. I am so tired of reading "the gig is up". Thanks again.

You're quite welcome.

Along those lines, you might appreciate this article from the CBC, GIGS, JIGS, AND JIBES

JIG IS UP

The phrase "the jig is up" surfaced more than 200 years ago. The exact origin is unknown, with speculation ranging from the end of a musical performance to the removal of a fishing line (a jig) from water – although the anglers' term didn't catch on until the 1860s, so this seems unlikely.

Some scholars believe it originally referred to the end of either a trick or game, since the word jig (sometimes spelled gig) had acquired this meaning by the time Shakespeare was writing plays.

The first recorded use of "the jig is over" appeared in 1777. About 20 years later, a Philadelphia newspaper published the earliest known version of our current expression – throwing in an extra "g" (the jigg is up) for good measure.

What does "the jig is up" imply today? The Canadian Oxford defines it as a scheme that's been "revealed or foiled," while Webster's suggests it means "all chances for success are gone" – especially when applied to "risky or improper" strategies.

The gigantic Oxford English Dictionary broadens the scope to "the game is up, it's all over." The Gage Canadian Dictionary says the expression is slang for "it's all over; there's no more chance," and The Houghton Mifflin Canadian Dictionary of the English Language offers a similar entry: "the game is up; all hope is gone."


188 posted on 05/27/2006 12:29:31 PM PDT by Paul Ross (We cannot be for lawful ordinances and for an alien conspiracy at one and the same moment.-Cicero)
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