jive

Meanings

1. To deceive; to be deceptive.
2. To dance, originally to jive or swing music; later, to jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, disco, etc.

1. A dance style popular in the 1940–50s.
2. Swing, a style of jazz music.
3. A slang associated with jazz musicians; hepcat patois or hipster jargon.
4. Synonym of bullshit: patent nonsense, transparently deceptive talk.
5. African-American Vernacular English.

1. (dated, Black slang)

1. To jibe: to accord, to agree.

Etymology

Unknown. Slang attested in African-American and rural American culture. Frequently used to imply lying, verbal deception or trickery. Has a possible historical antecedent in gyve (“shackle”). Alternatively, of African origin, compare Wolof jev, jeu (“to talk about someone absent, especially in a disparaging manner”).