4. (common).—Excellence; good luck; happiness. Jam-up (adj. and adv.) =
the pink of perfection; slap-up (q.v.); bang-up (q.v.). Also real jam.
1855. Haliburton, Nature & Human Nature, p. 273. Connubial bliss, I
allot, was real jam up.
1882. F. Anstey, Vice-Versâ, xiv. ‘Ah!’ observed Dick. ‘I thought
you wouldn’t find it all jam! And yet you seemed to be enjoying
yourself, too,’ he said with a grin, ‘from that letter you wrote.’
1889. The Mirror, 26 Aug., p. 6, col. 2. He’ll marvel at the rod
you have in pickle For him who now considers you real jam.
1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 56. Society’s lions’ wag their
tails on the cheap, and that’s jam.
1892. Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads. ‘Oonts.’ It aint no jam for
Tommy.