Jive/jibe

Posted by RRC on January 09, 2008

In Reply to: Jive/jibe posted by ESC on January 08, 2008

: : Is the phrase that "they didn't jive", or "they didn't jibe"?

: Jibe -- harmonize, agree, get along. To be in accord with.

: "Dictionary of American Regional English," Volume III by Frederic G. Cassidy and Joan Houston Hall (1996, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England). I-O. Page 128.

While ESC is probably making the right assumption about the poster meant (they don't agree or match) given the lack of context, "they don't jive" is also a perfectly valid phrase if they don't speak in a jive dialect or play music or dance in a jive style. Also, jibe (gibe is an alternate spelling) has other meanings --- an insulting remark or shifting from one side of a ship to another or to change course of a sailboat in a particular way (OED says this meaning is usually spelled "gybe" outside the US).