Today's language lesson is on the phrase "the jig is up".
I've heard it two ways--"the jig is up" or "the gig is up"--but didn't know which was correct. CBC News Online wrote an article about it in 2001 called "Gigs, Jigs, and Jibes".
Two phrases. Two possible meanings:
1) A gig is a musical performance usually played in the course of one night.
So to say the "gig is up" would mean an engagement has played its course.
2) A jig is a dance, a fishing lure, or a ruse (probably because the fishing lure lures the fish).
So to say the "jig is up" could either mean the dance is over or that a ruse is over (i.e. the scoundrel has been outed and the cops are on their way).
So the answer is....The original phrase was "the jig is over" (1777) and scholars believe it applied to a trick or a game being over: since that was meaning it had when Shakespeare later used it. Besides, gig hasn't meant a musical performance until recently. To be fair to the gig people: jig has also been spelled gig for centuries (since g could also have a j sound). That's how we get the word gigolo. But just like we don't write "gaol" for "jail" anymore, we don't write "gig" for "jig".
So the jig is up for people who say "gig"!
8 years ago
8 comments:
Speaking of "gig" if you wanna see what I was "on about" with my post and trance come check out my blog at www.robvox.com and visit my RobTube section. The most recent addition is a gig in Rio Brazil with DJ Tiesto a HUGE Trance DJ. The second video is a new trance tune from said DJ.
Ok, readers. I'm trying out this new format. Let me know if you like this format better or if you liked the old one. Also: if you would change colors and stuff, let me know that as well.
Overall, I dig the new look ... although the serif font is a bit tough to read in the comments section (the words seem too close together, and it's a wee bit small). However, there's a good chance that's a Windows problem; Linux and Mac handle font rendering better, so I'll see what it looks like on Linux and let you know.
Anyway! I'm not disputing your findings, exactly--I've only seldom used either phrase, so it's no skin off my nose either way (your next language lesson?), though I confess I probably uttered the version deemed incorrect on the few occasions it was called for ("gig" just sounds better, in my opinion)--but if the "original" phrase dates from 1777, how are they citing Shakespeare, since he had been pushing up daisies for over a century by then? Hmmm ... I guess I am disputing your findings! The gig's up, Phee!
No. I meant Jimmy Sheakspeare. He died in 1911.
...I thought that sounded odd as well. I will investigate and get back to you.
The gig may indeed be up.
AHA! So I went back and read what the CBC actually said about William Shakespeare (not Jimmy), and here is the exact quote:
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.
So Shakesepeare used the word "jig" in his plays--not the phrase "the jig is up".
So apparently, Dan, the jig ain't up.
So I just noticed that I begin a lot of sentences with "so".
Ah, crap: looks like the gig's up after all.
Okay, here are some mo' thoughts on the revised look of Escapades. I like the blue and grey color scheme; I like the little flourishes, like the wee arrows pointing to each comment; I like the serif font (I've been mulling a serif theme for the next iteration of underwhelm). My sole complaint is that the text is a smidgin too small by default. It's still readable, and a couple of key presses fixes the issue, and it's really not that big a deal, but there it is. I wouldn't change it just for that, were I you.
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