Complete this phrase: "Home again, home again, jiggity ____."

August 3, 2004 4:01 PM

"Home again, home again, jiggity ____."

My girlfriend and I disagree on the proper completion of this frankly bizarre sing-songy statement uttered whenever our respective families would return from an outing. I say "jiggity jig" and she says "jiggity jog." I'm curious about if other people are familiar with this construction, and how they complete the phrase; I'd also love to hear theories about its origin.

posted by evinrude to grab bag (34 comments total)

in bladerunner they say 'jig'.
posted by darkpony at 4:03 PM on August 3, 2004

...jog. Born and raised in Richmond, VA, FWIW...
posted by armage at 4:04 PM on August 3, 2004

To Market

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again, jiggety jig.
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog,
Home again, home again, jiggety jog.
To market, to market, to buy a plum bun,
Home again, home again, market is done.
posted by esch at 4:06 PM on August 3, 2004

Demographic information: I grew up in Seattle, she grew up in central Illinois, then Austin, TX.

Personal theory: this is a fragment of a nursery rhyme, the next line of which involves the purchase of a pig/hog.
posted by evinrude at 4:06 PM on August 3, 2004

To market, to market to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again, jiggity jig.
To market, to market to buy a fat hog,
Home again, home again, jiggity jog.
To market, to market to buy a plum bun,
Home again, home again, market is done.

So either form is acceptable.
posted by jasper411 at 4:08 PM on August 3, 2004

I always thought the fourth line ended "joggity-jog".
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:09 PM on August 3, 2004

Rats!

Original post at 4:01, Esch at 4:06, me at 4:08!
posted by jasper411 at 4:10 PM on August 3, 2004

A significant loss of innocence occurs when you realize that the little piggy that went to market wasn't going shopping.
posted by quonsar at 4:16 PM on August 3, 2004

Hmm. We always recited it "home again, Finnegan, jiggety-jig/jog" possibly because I come from a long line of James Joyce fans.

Also: quonsar, as usual, makes me laugh so hard I want to pee.
posted by scody at 4:20 PM on August 3, 2004

my husband says "home again, home again, jiggity jig" all the time, and i have never heard it anywhere else. thanks!
posted by rhapsodie at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2004

I always say "jog" because it sounds more final, being as it comes later in the rhyme than "jig." Never really thought it out before, but that's totally what I do...
posted by GaelFC at 4:45 PM on August 3, 2004

Every time moz and I go upstairs in our apartment, I say home again home again, and he says jiggity jig! Never heard jog. Funny that it comes from a rhyme though.
posted by sugarfish at 5:06 PM on August 3, 2004

I've always said jig. Colorado, FYI.
posted by LittleMissCranky at 6:23 PM on August 3, 2004

Jig. BC.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:39 PM on August 3, 2004

Jog. Florida.
posted by bshort at 7:13 PM on August 3, 2004

I say jiggety jog, but I never use jogging as a substitute for running. Jogging or "yogging, I think it's a soft J" is for pussies. Georgia.
posted by Frank Grimes at 8:16 PM on August 3, 2004

Jig. Minnesota.
posted by jeribus at 8:53 PM on August 3, 2004

Never heard it before. You're all fucking nuts.
posted by The God Complex at 8:56 PM on August 3, 2004

jig. sacramento, ca.
posted by fishfucker at 8:57 PM on August 3, 2004

Jig, Pittsburgh, PA by way of South America, Africa and the South Pacific.
posted by Dreama at 9:18 PM on August 3, 2004

Jig. SF Bay Area by way of LA, CA; Spokane, WA; Great Falls, MT and Omaha, NE. I know me some folk rhymes!
posted by Lynsey at 10:12 PM on August 3, 2004

Jig, upstate New York. My lady friend says "jog", she's from central California. This is a matter of great friction between us.
posted by majcher at 11:42 PM on August 3, 2004

Jig - UK. Tho I'd never heard it before BladeRunner.
posted by Pericles at 12:11 AM on August 4, 2004

The ____-____ spider,
climbed up the water spout...

me: itsy-bitsy
her: eensy-weensy
posted by five fresh fish at 12:34 AM on August 4, 2004

eensy-weensy
but the line doesn't begin with 'The', it's just 'Eensy-weensy spider...' (UK)
posted by biffa at 1:39 AM on August 4, 2004

itsy-bitsy

And, with the previous question, ya'll are just wrong :-)
posted by bshort at 4:54 AM on August 4, 2004

esch, jasper411: thanks!

five fresh fish: itsy-bitsy.
posted by evinrude at 6:06 AM on August 4, 2004

Jig. (I never knew it was from a rhyme.)

Itsy-bitsy.

San Francisco, via northern Virginia.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:41 AM on August 4, 2004

Jog. Chesapeake Bay, Virginia.

My mother used to say it every time we pulled into our driveway after a long trip.
posted by dhoyt at 7:17 AM on August 4, 2004

Jig; itsy-bitsy; TN.
posted by ChrisTN at 7:20 AM on August 4, 2004

Jog; itsy-bitsy; grew up in Nashville, TN.
posted by lackutrol at 10:10 AM on August 4, 2004

Jig (Southern Ohio), Itsy-Bitsy and the toilet paper comes over the top and hangs down the front. Anybody says different is just plain WRONG.
posted by marsha56 at 11:11 AM on August 4, 2004

we always said "home again, home again, market is done!" until blade runner.

itsy-bitsy (early childhood in germany; childhood in central texas; middle childhood inside the beltway--my parents were both born and raised in chicago)
posted by crush-onastick at 1:36 PM on August 4, 2004

Jig or jig-jig.
FFF: itsy-bitsy.
central OR.
posted by willpie at 1:57 PM on August 4, 2004