1851. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, vol. i. p. 189.
Frequently young horses that will not work in cabs—such as jibs—are
sold to the horse-slaughterers as useless.
Verb. (colloquial).—1. To shirk; to funk (q.v.); to cut (q.v.).—Lex.
Bal. (1811).
2. (common).—To depart; to be off. For synonyms see Amputate and
Skedaddle.
To be jibbed, verb. phr. (Christ’s Hospital).—To be called over the
coals; to get into trouble; to be twigged (q.v.).
Jib-of-jibs, subs. (nautical).—An impossible sail—a star-gazer (q.v.)
or sky-scraper (q.v.).
Jibb, subs. (Old Cant).—1. The tongue: hence (2) language; speech.
Jibber the Kibber. See Kibber.
Jibe, verb. (American).—To agree; to live in harmony; to jump (q.v.).
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 discoursing 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!’
1866. 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).