i just figured out what 'the jig is up' really means

[ElFenix]

thank you styx

 

[neutralizer]

What's it really mean?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: neutralizer
What's it really mean?

it's the contraption they used to hang people from.

 

[bleeb]

I always thought it was a cliche to say that the trickery or "show" was over.... in essence, a jig is used to trick a fish into biting during fishing. By having the jig up, it no longer is tricking the fish.

 

[chuckywang]

I looked at this thread, saw that "the jig is up" referred to something used to hang people, and correctly guessed the Styx song was Renegade.

 

[MartyMcFly3]

Originally posted by: chuckywang
I looked at this thread, saw that "the jig is up" referred to something used to hang people, and correctly guessed the Styx song was Renegade.

Not like many Styx songs have "the jig is up" in them.

 

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: MartyMcFly3

Originally posted by: chuckywang
I looked at this thread, saw that "the jig is up" referred to something used to hang people, and correctly guessed the Styx song was Renegade.

Not like many Styx songs have "the jig is up" in them.

Well, considering I only knew the beginning of the song "Oh mama I'm in fear of my life from the long arm of the law", I think I did pretty good.

 

[thescreensavers]

I learn alot from styx songs LOL i learned some words in jappanies from one of them

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: neutralizer
What's it really mean?

it's the contraption they used to hang people from.

Incorrect:


http://www.answers.com/the+jig+is+up&r=67

game is up, the
Also, the jig is up. The trick or deception has been exposed. For example, When they took inventory they realized what was missing, and the game was up for the department head. This expression dates from the mid-1800s and uses up in the sense of "over" or "lost." The variant employs jig in the sense of "trickery," a usage dating from about 1600.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/gigjig.html

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."

 

[loup garou]

...and gone!