BBC 4 announces classical music season

[doversoul1]

(110/60 so 5 mg is fine for now)

It's no more "jargon" than the old Norse word "window" (wind-eye)

Jargon is, very obviously, not jargon to those who habitually use it but as long as there are people to whom it sounds jargon, then it is jargon (not to be confused with technical terms). Gig used by R3 presenter(s) certainly sounds pretentious to say the least.

[french frank]

It's no more "jargon" than the old Norse word "window" (wind-eye)

Ipse dixit. No answer to question: when did it become a 'synonym' for an event one attended, rather than an event one performed at? Because that's the point at which it would move from being musicians' jargon. I think the verb 'to gig' still means to play at a 'gig', not to attend one.

[ahinton]

I've known the term "gig" to be in common use ever since I began to study music and had always assumed it to have been so long before that. The problem with a more general use of the term today (i.e. not just among musicians) is that the term "the gig economy" is now in widespread use and some people might be confused by the use of the term "gig" by members of the musical fraternity.

[Bryn]

Since "gig" derives from "engagement", I wonder if it's in use by military personnel in relation of interaction with the enemy?

[vinteuil]

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http://www.word-detective.com/2009/02/gig/

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[gurnemanz]

It is easy to see why it is in common use: It is short and snappy. It has a much broader connotation than just "concert", being used for eg a comedian's standup performance or even temporary employment. It lends itself to a variety of extended usage, eg "get the gig" etc and can also be useful as an intransitive verb. "He'll be gigging again this summer." I certainly use it sometimes.

[Bryn]

.

http://www.word-detective.com/2009/02/gig/

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Or even https://english.stackexchange.com/qu...ement-as-a-gig where the quotations from some editions of Harold Wentworth & Stuart Flexner's Dictionary of American Slang take some beating.

[vinteuil]

Or even https://english.stackexchange.com/qu...ement-as-a-gig where the quotations from some editions of Harold Wentworth & Stuart Flexner's Dictionary of American Slang take some beating.

... I pertick'ly liked : -

"The relations, if, any, between a child's pacifier or fetish, the rectum and vagina, a party, a sex orgy, jazz music, a pronged fork, and a reprimand are most interesting, and lie in the field of psychology rather than of etymology... "

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[ahinton]

Since "gig" derives from "engagement", I wonder if it's in use by military personnel in relation of interaction with the enemy?

I rather doubt it but it might lead to a good idea, namely having them all function as part of the "gig economy" on zero hours contracts...

[french frank]

It is easy to see why it is in common use: It is short and snappy. It has a much broader connotation than just "concert", being used for eg a comedian's standup performance or even temporary employment. It lends itself to a variety of extended usage, eg "get the gig" etc and can also be useful as an intransitive verb. "He'll be gigging again this summer." I certainly use it sometimes.

Those tend to relate to performance again, rather than attendance. 'Concert' (oldie style) could be either performance or attendance

I've known the term "gig" to be in common use ever since I began to study music

Hence musicians' jargon. But 'gig economy' extends it to mean short term or one-off employment. I'd say it's again more closely associated with the employed for whom it has a particular relevance, rather than the paying customers.

[Bryn]

Those tend to relate to performance again, rather than attendance. 'Concert' (oldie style) could be either performance or attendance



Hence musicians' jargon. But 'gig economy' extends it to mean short term or one-off employment. I'd say it's again more closely associated with the employed for whom it has a particular relevance, rather than the paying customers.

I tend to concur. I for one would refer to attending a [name of performer(s)] gig, but if participating as performer would talk in terms of "having" a gig. Again, the mooted derivation from engagement comes into play. Saturday's Stefan Szczelkun gig at IKLECTIK will be a bit of both but, for me, principally the former.

[Serial_Apologist]

Thanks to all for these explanations of the word "gig". I'd always assumed up to now that it derived from "gigue" - as opposed to "jig".

[ahinton]

Those tend to relate to performance again, rather than attendance. 'Concert' (oldie style) could be either performance or attendance



Hence musicians' jargon. But 'gig economy' extends it to mean short term or one-off employment. I'd say it's again more closely associated with the employed for whom it has a particular relevance, rather than the paying customers.

Agreed on all counts except that, in the absence of explanation, non-musicians might not necessarily appreciate that "gig" has a somewhat different meaning to musicians to that which is conveyed more generally by the term "gig economy".

[french frank]

non-musicians might not necessarily appreciate that "gig" has a somewhat different meaning to musicians to that which is conveyed more generally by the term "gig economy".

It was only two days ago that I looked up the meaning of 'gig economy' just to check. I think the meanings overlap to the extent that musicians are often in 'gig employment'.

[oddoneout]

Has the use of the term become more widespread, and wider in meaning over time? 40 plus years ago concerts were what choirs and orchestras did, and gigs were what other music did(folk,rock etc), even when, as during my student days, the musicians were involved in more than one form of music making. Nigel Kennedy for one introduced more casual terminology(fiddle, gig) and in some respects that's probably no bad thing. I certainly hear the term gig in relation to 'classical' concerts much more often now than say 10 years ago. How much of an umbrella term is it now and does it include things like recording sessions as well as concert type events?
There are times though, when the use of jargon or subject specific terminology is simply to show off, or give a false impression about an individual's knowledge of/familiarity with a given subject or activity, or impart false bonhomie; that's when it grates for me.