"Pounds on Wood" wrote in message ...
His "knowing look" probably had more to do with the racial connotation that
jig carries. Pretty silly to my way of thinking, in this day and time. In
my experience the "knowing look" is usually accompanied by a snicker or SEG,
and usually comes from a racist. Flames welcomed.


FWIW I can second the racial connotation that jig (may) carry. While
I have never actually heard it used in that way, I remember some years
back (early 70s) when I would go ice fishing with my father.
"Jigging" was the act of fishing with a short pole and a small "jig"
with a "mousy" (a little grub). Periodically you quickly flick the
pole up and down to make the jig wiggle in the water. Anyway there
were a few fishermen who my father worked with (of the
African-American persuasion) that would only refer to it as "gigging"
(hard G). Dad had to explain to me that at some point in history the
word "jig" had a negative racial connotation. It was kind of obscure
then and that was 30 years ago.

There are many words that have or had negative connotations in the
past. I don't like the whole PC movement, but believe you should also
be sensitive to people's feelings and not just say "It's OK because
it's in the dictionary" cop out. I don't use the phrase "Call a spade
a spade" nor would I ever use the word "niggardly" even though they
both have legitimate meanings. I think most reasonable people can see
why. However unless I see wide spread use of the word "jig" in a
negative way, I will continue to use it to describe my fixtures (or
lack of - I have a large to-do list of jigs to make, but only a few
hanging around my shop).

-Chris