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 #2 (permalink) Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:45 am Expression "the gig/jig is up" |
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That's interesting. I didn't know the expression "the gig/jig is up".
MrP |
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MrPedantic
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| #3 (permalink) Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:26 am Expression "the gig/jig is up" |
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A little Googling goes a long way.
| Quote: | Deborah Grey clearly states that the "GIG" is up, not the "JIG" as you report.
When someone says the "gig" is up, they mean that an engagement has played its course.
When someone says the "jig" is up, it indicates that a scoundrel has been found out, and the forces of law and order are on their way.
Clearly, there is a vast distinction between the two words. |
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/gigjig.html |
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Molly
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| #4 (permalink) Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:44 am Expression "the gig/jig is up" |
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So, if Deborah Gray (whoever she is) is to be believed, the spelling should be 'jig'. That is also the spelling I'm familiar with for this idiom.
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Yankee
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| #5 (permalink) Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:12 pm Expression "the gig/jig is up" |
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Hi
"jig" would be the right use of the known idiom.
The gig is up is quite new to me in usage, but could be perceivably used in the context of general events. However gig is commonly used in specific reference to a concert.
cheers stew.t.
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| #6 (permalink) Mon Jun 16, 2008 15:06 pm Expression "the gig/jig is up" |
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| Yankee wrote: | So, if Deborah Gray (whoever she is) is to be believed, the spelling should be 'jig'.
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I guess so. |
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Molly
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| #7 (permalink) Mon Jun 16, 2008 18:17 pm Expression "the gig/jig is up" |
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| stew.t. wrote: | | However gig commonly used in specific reference to a concert. |
The word 'gig' is also used in a couple of other ways -- in reference to a 'gigabyte', for example. But I had never seen the idiom 'the jig is up' written with the word 'gig'. Thus my question to the author of the test sentence. It seems to me that 'gig' is a typo in this test.
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