The Jig is Up
Meaning
You are caught, you are discovered, the deception is uncovered.
Example
The jig is up for Lisa. Her boss caught her doing work on company time instead of browsing a website.
Origin
Jig is defined as a trick or game. Hence the jig is up literally meant the trick is over.
Alternative: Webster’s gives the origin of the word jig as a transliteration of an Old French word defined as frolic (c. 17th-18th century). Hence, jig is referred to as a dance, not a game.
In the 18th-century British Navy, the captain of the ship held the power of life or death over the crew of his ship. For certain offenses he could impose the death penalty. That penalty was carried out as follows: a line was thrown over the lowest yardarm, tied ’round the offender’s neck. No blindfold, no feet or hands tied.
10 At the command take him up two or three crewmen hoisted the man up and he writhed, jerked and twitched as he strangled to death. His feet and legs especially jumped about. He literally danced at the end of the rope. The crew of the ship were interested but not all were assembled as witnesses. Some of the crew had to remain on station to sail the ship. The word was passed: the jig is up. All hands were thus informed that the sentence had been carried out. Thanks to Wilbur Johnson, Redwood City, California.
