Ongoing History Daily: The origin of the word “gig.”

Here’s an odd piece of trivia.  When a band plays a show, we say that they’ve got a “gig.”  Where the hell did the word “gig” come from?  Some dictionaries say that the word is derived from the word “engagement.” 

Linguists will say “No, it comes from the early part of this century when musicians used to travel by horse and cart.  The cart was called a ‘gig’ and when the band reached the next town, they would use the gig as a stage.” 

Therefore, to go to a “gig” used to mean “going out on the street to see a bunch of travelling musicians play from the back of their horse-drawn cart.” 

If you go back to Friday, you’ll find a post on a brazen Pearl Jam theft.