The phrase was given a push by the Balling the Jack fad, which reportedly began as a sexy juke joint dance involving plenty of bumping and grinding. Theatrical producer Florence Ziegfeld caught the play and liked the dance so much that he bought the rights to it for his Follies of The Balling the Jack craze swept white America, eventually getting mixed in with the Lindy Hop to become a popular swing step. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
They may have adopted this expression from the song. From this usage, people began to use the expression to mean doing any manner of things quickly.
The origin of the idiom with the meaning of risking everything on one attempt is unclear. The song does not appear in the singles discography of noted blues singer Big Bill Broonzy , but he further popularized the term when he sang it as the refrain in the song "I Feel So Good," which he recorded on the Okeh label in Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. It doesn't seem likely that Burris coined the term himself but that he took the title from an existing slang expression. Now we come to the tricky bit. Where and how did that expression come from and what 'jack' was being referred to? Jack is a difficult word as far as etymologists are concerned.
The problem is the bewildering number of things which are called jacks. The Oxford English Dictionary lists about 50 of them. In addition, there are all the uses of the word that refer to the name Jack - Jack Tar, Lumberjack, Black Jack etc, and all the people with the first name Jack. Here's a small list of phrases that refer to 'Jack' - there are many others.
Several suggested jacks have been guessed to be the to be the source of 'balling the jack', but without any evidence to make them likely candidates.
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