What "Jiggy" Means & Where That Word REALLY Came From

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: November 16, 2023

This is Part I of a two part series on the word "jiggy" and on the phrases "gettin jiggy wit (with) it", "keepin it jiggy", and "its a jiggy time."

Part I provides information and comments about the meanings and sources of the word "jiggy" and those phrases mentioned above. This post also includes my interpretation of certain slang words that are found in lyrics to selected songs hat include those words and phrases. My interpretation of selected blogger comments are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/02/gettin-jiggy-wit-it-keeping-it-jiggy.html for Part II of this post.

Part II features Will Smith's 1997 Hip Hop video "Gettin Jiggy Wit It" as well as two videos and one sound file of Dancehall records that include the word "jiggy" in their lyrics. Those records are Voicemail featuring Bogle, and Delly Ranks' "Weh Di Time" (also known as "Jiggy Time"), Sean Paul's "Get Busy", and Elephant Man's "Keeping It Jiggy".

The content of this post is presented for etymology and cultural purposes.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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DEFINITIONS OF "JIGGY" AND CERTAIN PHRASES THAT INCLUDE THAT WORD [REVISED October 19, 2020]

"Jiggy" is an adjective that was coined by African Americans in the late 20th century. As is the case with other slang words, "jiggy" has multiple meanings. 

Here are three entries for the word "jiggy" from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jiggy, 

These entries are given in no particular order, and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

1. "jiggy " 

A played out slang term from the mid to late 90's meaning getting loose or dressing fly that was used by New Yorkers(mainly Harlem cats) before Will Smith came out with "Getting Jiggy with it".

Yo duke looking Jiggy tonight with the Phat Farm sweater and the Jewalzz...

or

Damn you was getting Jiggy on the dance floor last night.

by Olskoolrule  May 26, 2004"
-snip-
-Will Smith's Rap record "Gettin Jiggy Wit It" was recorded in 1996 and released in Jan 1997. (More comments about Will Smith and the word "jiggy" are found below.)

Here are my explanations for the slang in that entry:
-"Played out" = something that is no longer used.

-"Harlem cats" = Men in Harlem (a section of New York City, New York, USA)

-"dressing fly" = wearing clothes in the latest [African American] urban styles. [Note that the adjective "fly" is a compliment.]

-"getting jiggy on the dance floor" is the same as "getting loose" = enjoy yourself without regard to any inhibitions, for example, females dancing in sexually provocative ways

-"yo duke" = Hey, [that] man

-"Phat Farm" = a [formerly] popular brand of African American urban clothing

-"Jewalzz" = jewels

**
2. jiggy [means]
1) down with
2) having sex or messing around with
3) exclamation that means "Sweet!" or "Tiiiiiight!"
4) all right

1) "Gettin' jiggy wit it...na na na na na na na!"
or "Yeah, I'm jiggy wit that."
2) "I got jiggy wit your mom last night."
3) "Gator boots with the pimped-out Gucci suit." "JIGGY!"
4) "You aiight? Everything jiggy over here?"

by Nick D , February 25, 2003
-snip-
"down with" = agree with; being into" something or someone [accept, support]

**
3. "jiggy= adjective to describe having a good time..."
- jamdowntnt, 08-20-2005

**

Here's an excerpt from http://forum.dancehallreggae.com/archive/index.php/t-59720.html  Warning- Some of the comments in that discussion contain Jamaican English profanity and American English profanity.

"Jiggy - originally black American urban slang, made popular in mainstream American culture by actor/rapper Will Smith and co-opted by Elephant Man, has since become passe in the African-American community in which it originated; used varyingly to refer to 'having a good time' (as jamdowntnt put it) or a blanket descriptive term for the colourful, dance-oriented style of dancehall reggae currently in vogue, epitomized by artists Elephant Man and Voise Mail (and a few tracks by Beenie [m]an."
Don Malvo, , 08-20-2005
-snip-
Added Oct. 19, 2020
I'm sorry that I didn't quote additional excerpts from that dancehallreggae.com website or its entire article because it  appears that that website is no longer active. That entire discussion thread was interesting because it documented how the meanings of Jamaican slang meanings might change over a period of time.

All the Jamaican bloggers who were quoted in that discussion agreed about the meaning of the word "jiggy". However, there was some disagreement about other words such as "weddy" and "passa passa". By the end of that discussion thread some of the bloggers recognized that at least part of the disagreement was because the meanings of some slang words had changed over time. 

The two other important points that I got from that discussion thread were that
1. like most slang throughout the world- most Jamaican slang words and phrases have a short life
and
2.  in those bloggers' opinions, Dancehall artists often make up words and phrases or give previously existing words and phrases new meanings as a means of increasing their records' sales. 
-snip-

(Added Oct. 19, 2020)

"Weddy weddy" and "passa passa" are names for two different types of Dancehall dance movements.
-snip-
Weddy Weddy probably came from the phrase "Weh di" that means "where the" in Jamaica patois:
https://jamaicanpatwah.com/term/Weh-di-restaurant-deh/3727#.X46kjNBKi1s
"Weh di restaurant deh

English translation "where is the restaurant?" "

**
Here's a 2019 Jamaican Observer article that includes the terms "weddy weddy" and "passa passa"
From http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/weddy-weddy-comes-of-age_171240?profile "Weddy Weddy comes of age"
by Howard Campbell, July 31, 2019

"Considered by some dancehall pundits as the genre's godfather, Winston “Wee Pow” Powell celebrates another milestone this evening with 15 years of Weddy Weddy, the weekly dance that has helped expose upcoming artistes and sound system selectors.

The event takes place at Stone Love headquarters, Burlington Avenue in Kingston, where Weddy Weddy's first songs were played in 2005.

“It's a significant event, it shows di world dat Stone Love is still current an' keeping acquainted with what's going on. Most of all, wi giving di people good, clean music,” Powell told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Powell and deejay Elephant Man, whose office was on the Stone Love compound, are conceptualisers of Weddy Weddy. Powell said Passa Passa, a West Kingston dance which started in 2003, was the main motivation for him launching the uptown version of that event.

He believes Weddy Weddy's greatest achievement has been breaking songs from emerging artistes, which was one of the objectives of early sound systems.

“Wi give di younger artistes a chance to play an' hear their songs, which they couldn't get on radio. They can play an' hear dem song same time,” Powell stated.

The best known beneficiary of this real time 'bus' is Mavado, who was one of the first artistes to make a mark at Weddy Weddy. Selectors such as Richie Feelings and Boom Boom also got their break there."
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/02/gettin-jiggy-wit-it-keeping-it-jiggy.html . (Part II of this pancocojams series, for more information/comments about the word "weddy".

by Taboola

Sponsored Links

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WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD "JIGGY"?
Theory #1:
The word "jiggy" in the saying "Gettin' jiggy with (wit) it" and "Keepin it jiggy" comes from the word "jig" (with the etymology of "jig" from the French word "gige", "gigue").
Early definitions for "jiggy"
From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jiggier
"Jiggy
adjective jiggier, jiggiest
1. nervous, active, excitedly energetic
2. wonderful and exciting, because stylish

1930-35, Americanism; origin uncertain, perhaps jig2 or jig(gle) + -y2"

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Later definition for "jiggy"
From http://www.thefreedictionary.com/jiggy
adj. jig·gi·er, jig·gi·est Slang
1. Moving excitedly, especially when dancing: getting jiggy on the dance floor.

2. Engaged in sexual intercourse: The couple went upstairs to get jiggy.

3. Affiliated or identified: politicians trying to get jiggy with younger voters.

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Theory #2:
The second theory is that the word "jiggy" in the sayings "Get jiggy wit it." ahd "Keepin it jiggy". comes from the word "jigaboo". That theory comes from Will Smith, the composer and performer of the 1997 Hip-Hop/Pop record "Get Jiggy Wit It" :
From thttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettin'_Jiggy_wit_It

"The connotations associated with the expression getting jiggy were heavily influenced by [Will Smith's single "Get Jiggy Wit It".] The term went from being used to acclaim one's fashion or style towards being synonymous with dancing, and eventually back to the original association with sexual connotations [3].

[Will] Smith has attested in an interview[4] that his inspiration to alter the meaning for the purpose of the song came from his association of the term "jiggy" with "jigaboo", a derogatory term for African-Americans, which made the literal meaning of the title "getting African-American with it" and which was meant to reference the popular folk-myth of an innate sense of rhythm in black folks. The co-opting of a once offensive word also was racially empowering."[4]
-snip-
citation 3: jiggy. (n.d.)". Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved 2007-04-26.
citation 4: Joyner, Michael (1998). "Gettin' Jiggy Wit Will Smith". Feature 4 (9): 7.
-snip-
In spite of actor/rapper Will Smith's statement that he created the word "jiggy" from the racial slur "jigaboo", I'm very skeptical of the theory that "jiggy" (as used in Smith's record and the later Jamaican "Jiggy" songs  came from the word "jigaboo". 

Information about the word "Jigaboo" is found later in this pancocojams post. 
-snip-
Added March 23, 20220 - Read the March 23, 2022 comment written below by CriticalThinker which 

about an Australian language phrase "jigy jigy". Thanks CriticalThinker for sharing that information!
 

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UPDATE: THE USE OF THE WORD "JIGGY" IN A HIP HOP SONG  A 1996 use of the word "jiggy" by LBB
Here are two comments from this pancocojams post's discussion thread that were added by LBB on Dec. 9, 2019. Thanks for these comments, LBB!

LBB, December 9, 2019 at 10:06 AM

NY rapper Shabazz The Disciple begins his song "Crime Saga" with the words "Shorty was into being jiggy". In this contezt it seems to mean a person who 'plays the game' and acquires money by any means, drugs, pimping etc."

***
LBB, December 9, 2019 at 10:10 AM
"Also that song was recorded in '96 which is before the big Will Smith track."
-snip-

WARNING:  This Hip Hop track contains profanity and explicit lyrics.

Note that this track was released in 1995 https://www.discogs.com/Shabazz-The-Disciple-Crime-Saga-Death-Be-The-Penalty-The-Sequel/release/310495
"Shabazz The Disciple ‎– Crime Saga (Death Be The Penalty - The Sequel)

Label:: Penalty Recordings ‎– PRV-0163

Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM

Country: US

Released: 1995"
-end of quote-

This excerpt from the summary for a video of this track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV2_A2pzHRo&ab_channel=ShabazztheDisciple-Topic indicates that "Shabbazz The Disciple left his mark on the Gravediggaz's "Diary Of A Madman." 1995's underground street anthem "Crime Saga" is by far Shabazz's most known solo record to date. The video is directed by The Gza." 
-end of quote-

Will Smith's "Getting Jiggy" song was recorded in 1996 and released in 1997. Shabazz The Disciple's  earlier use of  the word "jiggy" suggests that that word was part of street vernacular in New York City, if not elsewhere in the United States.  

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SUGGESTED SYNONYMS FOR "GETTIN JIGGY WITH IT"

"Get jiggy wit it" = Get hype!, Get busy!, "Get down!" "Work out! Note that these are exclamations to dancers to continue dancing very well.

Jiggy (fashion) = fashion that are fly, funky [in the latest style according to African American urban aesthetics] Note that these are compliments.

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SELECTED RECORD EXAMPLES WHOSE LYRICS INCLUDE THE WORD "JIGGY"
1. Will Smith - "Gettin Jiggy Wit It"
African American Hip Hop, 1997
Lyric excerpt:
i go psycho, when my new joint hits/
juss cant sit/
gotta get jiggy wit it/
THATS IT!/
Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/willsmith/gettinjiggywitit.html
-snip-
Interpretation:
"I go crazy (I get real excited) when I hear my new record".
I just can't sit, I got to get up and enjoy myself dancing enthusiastically (excitedly, wildly)...

****
2. Sean Paul - "Get Busy" [also colloquially known as "Shake That Thing Miss Annabella"]
Jamaican Dancehall, filmed in Canada, 2003
Phrase: "Get jiggy"
Lyric excerpt:
Woman Get busy, Just shake that booty non-stop
When the beat drops
Just keep swinging it
Get jiggy
Get crunked up
Percolate anything you want to call it
Oscillate you hip and don’t take pity
-snip-
Interpretation:
Dance provocatively, Get busy [doing that seductive dance]
-snip-
Note that "crunk" is style of African American Hip Hop dancing/

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3. Voicemail, featuring Delly Ranx and Bogle - "Weh Di Time" (also given as "Weddy Time" and "Jiggy Time")
Jamaican Dancehall, 2004
Phrase: "keepin it jiggy" and "it's a jiggy" time"
Lyric excerpts:
"Missa Wacky dis keepin' it jiggy with Delly and Voice Mail...

It's a Jiggy time again
Jiggy Jiggy Jiggy Jiggy
A Jiggy time again
-snip-
Interpretation:
It's a jiggy time = It's time to dance, it's time to kick back, (loosen up), relax, and have fun.
-snip-
Note that Wikipedia calls this song a "party anthem" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_Mail_(band)

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4. Elephant Man - "Keepin it jiggy"
Jamaican Dancehall, 2004
Lyric excerpt:
"Mek them stay dey war like Tupac and Biggy
Dance we a dance and keeping it jiggy"...
http://www.lyrics.m106.com/s121715,Elephant,Man.html
-snip-
Interpretation:
Make them call a truce in their war (like the African American rappers) Tupac and Biggy [Biggy Smalls]
We'll dance a dance and keep up the good times [and have some fun.]

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
This is by no means a comprehensive listing of songs that include the word "jiggy". For instance,
“Carl Poppa” by Bad Lip Reading is an example of a contemporary American song which parodies a character on the popular television series The Walking Dead is The chorus to that song includes the line "jiggy jar jar doo doo". The word "jiggy" serves a lyrical purpose only, and otherwise is meaningless. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9aM9Ch97U8 for a video of that 2014 song.

Also, the first part of the stage name "Jiggly Caliente", a contestant on Season 4 of RuPaul's Drag Race, is an example of an adaptation of the word "jiggle". Click http://www.socialitelife.com/rupauls-drag-race-meet-the-queens-jiggly-caliente-02-2012 for that interview.

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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "JIGABOO"
1. From http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=jigaboo 
"jigaboo (n.) 
insulting name for a black person, 1909, perhaps from jig (q.v.), which had been applied insultingly to persons (regardless of race) since late 18c., and ending from bugaboo. Shortened form jig is attested from 1924."

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2. From http://www.publicationcoach.com/jiggaboo/
"Here is how Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang defines the term and explains its etymology:

JIGABOO noun [1920’s and still in use] (originally U.S.) a derogatory term for a Black person. [either Standard English ‘jig,’ a dance, ultimately from French giguer, to leap to gambol, to frolic (the classic 19th century stereotypes); or modeled on Standard English ‘bugaboo,’ which, in the 13th century, was the name of a demon, and since the 18th century, the fear of demons in general; or Bantu ‘tshikabo,’ a meek and servile person, used as derogatory by slaves. Paradoxically , the first use of ‘jigaboo’ – in the song ‘ I’ve got rings on my fingers’ in the s how ‘The Midnight Sons’ (1909; music Raymond Hubbell)– appears to have referred to Asians"."

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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs
"Jigaboo, jiggabo, jigarooni, jijjiboo, zigabo, jig, jigg, jigga, jigger(US and UK)[139] term for a black person with stereotypical black features (e.g. dark skin, wide nose, and big lips).[140] Jiggaboo or jigabo is from a Bantu verb tshikabo, meaning meek or servile.[141]"
-snip-
The word "jig" may have used as a racial slur for Black people because the beginning of that word rhymes with the beginning of the word "nig".

The word "nig" has sometimes been used as a vernacular if not fully pejorative referent for the population of being who are now called African Americans since the mid 19th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Nig provides information about the 1859 book "Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black" by Harriet E. Wilson. "First published in 1859,[1] it was rediscovered in 1981 by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.[2] and was subsequently reissued with an Introduction by Gates (London: Allison & Busby, 1984).[3] Our Nig has since been republished in several other editions.[4] It was considered the first novel published by an African-American woman in North America,[5][6] though that record is now contested by another manuscript found by Gates, The Bondwoman's Narrative."...

For another example of that tern, the explicit Hip Hop song "My Nig" was recorded by Peezy in 2017.
 
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SOME OTHER ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORDS THAT ARE SPELLED LIKE THE WORD "JIGGY" 
Here's more information about the word "jiggle":
From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jiggle
"Jiggle: 
to move or cause (something) to move with quick, short movements up and down or side to side

to cause to move with quick little jerks or oscillating motions

Other English words that are related to "jig" are "jiggle", "jitter", "jittery", and "jitterbug". 

Here's more information about the etymology of the word "jig":
From http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jig
"Jig: Etymology
An assimilated form of earlier gig, from Middle English gigge, from Old French gige, gigue (“a fiddle, kind of dance”), from Frankish *gīge (“dance, fiddle”), from Proto-Germanic *gīganą (“to move, wish, desire”), from Proto-Indo-European *gheiǵh-, *gheigh- (“to yawn, gape, long for, desire”)."

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Here are two comments from the YouTube video viewer comment thread for a 1914 silent film clip of African American dancing. The publisher titled that video "A 1914 film showing black people dancing in a dance hall - Great dance moves. Getting jiggy with it!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq05EGAIKko 
MooPotPie, January 2015
"The root of the term "jig" in the dance context is non-racial in. It comes from the French "Gigue" or Spanish "Giga" and simply refers to lively folk dancing. Now "jigaboo" is a different story. While it's origins are actually Bantu, it became a well-known racial slur in the English-speaking world in the 19th-century. I'm pretty sure "jiggy", in this context, refers to the former. I can think of far worse slang we've come to embrace in the today's hip-hop culture . . . I'm sure you can too."

**
[reply]
lucy rosevelt, February 2015
"+MooPotPie Yeah, I was thinking Irish Jig - fast fancy footwork that developed into American Tap dancing." 

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 This concludes Part I of this series.

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