Green’s Dictionary of Slang

tricks, lies, underhand activities in general; also attrib.

1833		M. Scott Tom Cringle’s Log (1862) 104: Confound your jiggery, jiggery, sir!
1890		W. Sickert Pall Mall Gazette 21 July 1: ‘Impressionism,’ [...] is quite straightforward; there is no jiggery about it.
1891		Essex Newsman 7 Nov. 3/8: The complainant accused himself of ‘jiggery-pokery’ and of trying to deceive.
1901		Coventry Eve. Teleg. 22 July 2/5: One hopes that we shall have no ‘jiggery-pokery’ about the business.
1910		Eve. Teleg. (Dundee) 28 Mar. 3/1: Mr F.W. Jowett, MP, said that all the jiggery-pokery of party Government was of no use to them.
1912		Hull Dly Mail 6 May 4/4: This proposed closing order has been secured [...] by what may be described as ‘jiggery-pokery’ methods.
1920		Aberdeen Jrnl 14 Oct. 6/7: They could dismiss any idea of ‘jiggery-pokery’ in the scheme.
1938		F.D. Sharpe Sharpe of the Flying Squad 47: He protested strongly at this procedure, saying that he was not going to allow any jiggery-pokery by the police behind his back.
1940		S. Lister Mistral Hotel (1951) 29: You suggest, I gather, that I may know more of financial jiggery-pokery than that precious crew of Marseillais pickpockets.
1950		Hull Dly Mail 9 Feb. 1/7: Voting card properly numbered will be issued [...] so that there can be no jiggery-pokery.
1963		A.E. Farrell Vengeance 172: I never could stand for niggers’ jiggery-pokery.
1971		F.J. Hardy Outcasts of Foolgarah (1975) 179: The greatest piece of legal-eagle jiggery-pokery since they hung Ned Kelly for shooting a policeman.
1976		T. Murphy Sanctuary Lamp in Plays: 3 (1994) I ii: I was passed over in a regular piece of church jiggery-pokery, and fobbed off with one of the new semi-detacheds.
1998		I. Welsh Filth 141: He looks furtive [...] and quickly does a bit of jiggery-pokery on his computer.
2000		Observer Mag. 27 Feb. 58: Possible to get up to limited jiggery-pokery, but always in the public gaze to some extent.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Irish Fandango [ebook] [T]he resulting jiggery-pokry kept him making a living.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 174: [A] consequent lack of maintenance was compounded by mismanagement and peculation. Open day for jiggery pokery .