It’s just a job

November 4th, 2009 at 07:00am Barry Wood

The first “gig” I can remember was Gig Young, the actor. His birth name was Byron Elsworth Barr; he took Gig Young from a character he played in the 1942 film “The Gay Sisters.” He died in 1978, and his life story is not a happy one. And he’s not in the dictionary.

The other “gig” I’m familiar with is the slang one meaning “a job performing music, especially jazz or rock.” The book “American Slang” pegs its first appearance, among jazz musicians, at around 1905.

The meaning has since been generalized to cover “any job.”

But that “gig” is actually the fourth entry in Webster’s, which means it’s a relatively late arrival.

Check in the rest of the week for my takes on the others. Sorry to leave you hanging, but that’s all the time I have for this gig.

Entry Filed under: word origins