etymologyidioms
The common phrase “the fix is in” means that the outcome of an event or process has been covertly manipulated to ensure a result that would otherwise be determined by chance or a fair test of some kind.
What is the origin of this phrase?
Note: I'm interested specifically in the origin of the entire phrase, not in the etymology of the word “fix” as used within it.
I'm partial to the shift key+z typo answer.
If you're typing OMG really fast (cause you're so excited) you're going to slip and hit zOMG, since the < key isn't between shift and Z on most US keyboards.
Outside of any of the other possible origins, the typo is the most likely because it's most easily 'discovered' by small groups of people who are instant messaging each other. Most likely it has risen out of a parallell evolution because of our natural tendencies (as opposed to being invented or "first coined" by anyone).
Essentially, we all invent it ourselves.
According to A dictionary of slang, jargon and cant by Barrère and Leland (1897), it means that "one man has thrashed another so completely as to have taken him like a broom or mop, and swept or cleaned the floor with him."
(Rather cheekily, both usage examples there are from poems by Leland himself.)
Best Answer
Fix used in the sense you are referring to dates back to the 18th century:
probably from the earlier meaning :
(Etymonline)
Ad a set phrase the earliest usage I could find is from the '40s, but earlier usages are possible:
From: Collier's, Volume 106 Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, 1940
Ngram: fix is in.