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[–] 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (6 children)

The meaning behind the idiom is that "jig" is an old term for a trick, so you're no longer fooling the person.

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    I thought it was "jig" like the dance, so the metaphorical dance is over

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Seems it's one of those definitions that only survives in a idiom:

    The extended sense "piece of sport, trick" (1590s), survives mainly in the phrase the jig is up (attested by 1777 as the jig is over).

    https://www.etymonline.com/word/jig

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago* (2 children)

    Huh, you're right. I checked the OED online (it's a subscription thing through my library, here's the link the OED "cite" button gives, let's see if it's paywalled: Oxford English Dictionary, “jig (n.1), sense 5,” December 2025, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1036112357.)

    edit: well, I'm not a fan of that. Here's what it says, minus the examples

    A piece of sport, a joke; a jesting matter, a trifle; a sportive trick or cheat. the jig is up (or the jig is over) = ‘the game is up’, it is all over. Now dialect or slang.

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