1871. S. Clemens, Screamers, p. 60. The piece you happened to be playing was a little rough on the proprietors, so to speak—didn't seem to jibe with the general gait of the picture that was passing at the time, as it were.
Jickajog, subs. (old).—A commotion;
a push.
1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fayre, Induct. He would ha' made you such a jickajog i' the booths, you should ha' thought an earthquake had been i' the Fair.
1825. Todd, Eng. Dict. s.v. Jickajog. . . . a cant word.
Jiffy (or Jeffey), subs. (colloquial).—The
shortest possible time. Also
jiff.
1793. T. Scott, Poems, p. 365. Wad aften in a jiffie to auld Nick Sen' ane anither.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Jeffey. It will be done in a jeffey; it will be done in a short space of time, in an instant.
1812. H. & J. Smith, Rejected Addresses [quoted by Todd]. And then shall each Paddy . . . dispense in a jiffy.
1818. E. Picken, Poems, ii. 47. An' in a jiffin Row'd his fecket like a clew.
1825. Todd, Eng. Dict., s.v. Jiffey. . . . Now a colloquial word in several parts of England; and sometimes used in ludicrous writing.
1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 257. It is as clear as mud that we shall be minus your own beautiful self and the boat's crew in a jiffey, not forgetting Benjie there.
1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Aunt Fanny). It is stain'd, to be sure; but 'grassbleaching' will bring it To rights in a jiffy.
1842. Mrs. Gore, Fascination, p. 33. The old lady in the brown hood told me that she was going to return here in a jiffy.
1855. Thackeray, Rose & the Ring, p. 109. The fact is, that when Captain Hedzoff entered into the court of Snapdragon Castle, and was dicoursing with King Padella, the Lions made a dash at the open gate, gobbled up the six beef-eaters in a jiffy, and away they went with Rosalba on the back of one of them.
1856. C. Brontë, Professor, iii. 'I see such a fine girl sitting in the corner of the sofa there by her mamma; see if I don't get her for a partner in a jiffy!'
1856. Reade, Griffith Gaunt, ch. v. She said one of the gentlemen was strange to her; but the other was Doctor Islip from Stanhope town. She knew him well: he had taken off her own brother's leg in a jiffey.
1870. Orchestra. 15 July. His approach cleared in a jiffey a washerwoman's barge and the Austerlitz bathing establishment.
1888. Rolf Bolderwood, Robbery Under Arms, xxxiv. Out of sight in a jiffy.
1890. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up, p. 178. Come along, mate; we'll have that five hundred pounds out in a Jiffey.
1892. Milliken, 'Arry Ballads, 49. Put me at 'ome in a Jiff.
1892. G. Manville Fenn, Witness to the Deed, ii. . . . Back for you in a Jiffy.
Jiffess, subs. (tailors').—An employer's
wife.
Jig, subs. (old: now recognised).—1.
A dance; gig (q.v.). B. E.
(1690).
2. (old).—An antic; nonsense; a game, or lay (q.v.).
1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, ii. 2. He's for a jigg, or a tale of bawdry.
1614. Cook, City Gallant [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), xi. 268]. But what jig is this?
1640. Shirley, Coronation, v. 1. What dost think of this innovation? Is't not a fine jigg.
1641. Brome, Jovial Crew, in Wks (1873), iii. 415. Such tricks and jiggs you would admire.
1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, Prol. A jig shall be clapp'd at, and every rhyme prais'd.
