StackExchange Friday: Why does the idiom “Jig is up” mean “discovered in the act of dishonesty”?
Excerpts from Why does the idiom “Jig is up” mean “discovered in the act of dishonesty”? The question I was reading a manga on Mangarock in English when I saw this idiom, can you confer with me on why the meaning of this idiom "jig is up" is "discovered in the act of dishonesty"? Definition of the jig is up US, informal + old-fashioned —used to say that a dishonest plan or activity has been discovered and will not be allowed to continue The jig is up: where did you hide the stolen goods? None marked as answer, but this is the answer Jig is an old term for a lively dance, and in the Elizabethan era the word also became slang for a practical joke or a trick. This idiom derives from this obsolete slang word.