shuck and jive

Shuck and jive originally described a type of dance or stage entertainment associated with Black American performers in the early twentieth century.

The phrase came to mean putting on an exaggerated, deferential performance to appease white people—behavior adopted as survival strategy under segregation.

Now it more broadly means to deceive or evade through misleading talk or behavior: Stop shucking and jiving and give me a straight answer.

The term carries racial overtones and can give offense when applied to Black people.