Where does the expression The jig is up come from?
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.
