{"id":24129,"date":"2025-07-25T13:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T13:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24129"},"modified":"2025-07-25T13:44:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T13:44:14","slug":"gigs-jigs-and-fiddles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24129","title":{"rendered":"Gigs, Jigs &#038; Fiddles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What links the words <strong>gig<\/strong> and  <strong>jig<\/strong>, and what do they have to do a German word <strong>Geige<\/strong> (violin)? Let&#8217;s find out.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/omniglot\/35654886155\/in\/album-72157664122894297\" title=\"Tildon Krautz at Blue Sky Caf\u00e9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/4256\/35654886155_6ab0dab212_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" alt=\"Tildon Krautz at Blue Sky Caf\u00e9\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>gig<\/strong> [\u0261\u026a\u0261] can mean:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A live performance by a musician, band, musicial group or comedian<\/li>\n<li>A job or role for a performer (in film, television, theatre, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Any job, especially one that is freelance or temporary, or done on an on-demand basis. <em>Other meanings are available<\/em> [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gig#English\">source<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Its origins are lost in the mists of etymology, but its possibly related to the Old French word <em>gigue<\/em> (a string instrument similar to a mandolin, a kind of dance), which comes from Frankish <em>*g\u012bge<\/em> (dance, fiddle), from Proto-Germanic <em>*g\u012bgan\u0105<\/em> (to move, wish, desire), from Proto-Indo-European <em>*g\u02b0ey\u01f5\u02b0-<\/em> (to yawn, gape, long for, desire) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gigue#Old_French\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<p>The German word <strong>Geige<\/strong> [\u02c8\u0261a\u026a\u032f\u0261\u0259] (violin, fiddle) possibly comes from the same roots, via Middle High German <em>g\u012bge<\/em>, Old High German <em>g\u012bga<\/em> and Proto-Germanic <em>*g\u012bgan\u0105<\/em> (to move, wish, desire), etc [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Geige#German\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>The English word <strong>jig<\/strong> refers to such things as a light, brisk musical movement; a lively traditional Irish dance in 6\/8 time, also known as a double jig (other types of jig are available); or an English Morris dance performed by one or two individual dancers. It shares the same roots as <strong>gig<\/strong> and <strong>Geige<\/strong> &#8211; maybe via Middle English <em>gyge<\/em> (fiddle), from Old French <em>gigue<\/em> etc. [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/(s)kewh%E2%82%81-\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/98124955@N04\/9154888694\/in\/photolist-eWZcsw-2msSVYm-8xNtPr-a8aELA-afD9mD-aazWjQ-hjDixb-2oNbjNs-8pAmP-dii7Nn-qE6GJP-fKq88m-2r42HgQ-cocMr9-fhtGsP-8E7dpe-dbjuWU-KuUzmL-4WCAbU-8jBizB-2pbnaUu-59BPkL-8E7cN2-qbvhPD-2d71bPy-2mkaFoA-SWC4mo-2mcp4Ay-36f3kL-AxZSVD-cNZBhC-h7kVA-a28pqY-mbj4d1-gWsref-2iszhir-7gb85N-2i5gYDj-2mshyij-6v7JZX-scFBLG-ff957x-scSv7B-8rby1u-qqDnxL-qsVuSR-qsRXh9-24fH218-2wnwEf-qbnA8A\" title=\"Guinguette..\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/7358\/9154888694_1eeac96b46_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" alt=\"Guinguette..\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Another word from the same roots is <strong>guinguette<\/strong>, which in English and French is an old name for a sort of outdoor tavern that once existed in the suburbs of Paris, and appears to be used in modern French to refer to any outdoor bar (see above). It comes from French <strong>guinguet<\/strong> (a rough wine produced near Paris), from <strong>ginguer<\/strong> (to run, play, move a lot), from <strong>giguer<\/strong> (to dance, jump), from <strong>gigue<\/strong> (a string instrment, a jig, etc), and so on [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/guinguette\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/incornwall\/2688530474\/in\/photolist-56zqrG-sjs2zZ-6fp7mH-cKZgoW-56ndK1-pzmuFP-7Ms1ws-69oHqD-HWwRw-7Mo1Ca-kmoEwZ-5pAuug-f6a8T4-gDrDQ2-5mTFB2-9DPxna-5mM1nT-6kYbhw-6kZdm3-6kYvGb-5mR9rq-6kYzhj-6uqaUS-fnHoc8-gYafC6-amcWhP-6kYduu-6m3BMf-5mMaSP-6kZbQj-p72rfU-6kUf1F-vWQWKp-aDXqtt-6mhQCJ-6kYoDG-6kYj5Y-aE2hus-6kUQBn-6kYyym-o59uBu-aE2hLJ-6mak3m-aDXqs2-au5n6C-6kUhde-6mb4XN-5mLYQ6-aE2i1L-34knyh\" title=\"Heading for the Line\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/3059\/2688530474_a14523d99f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"445\" alt=\"Heading for the Line\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The word <strong>gig<\/strong> can also refer to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A small, narrow, open boat carried in a larger ship, and used for transportation between the ship and the shore, another vessel, etc.<\/li>\n<li>A similar rowing boat or sailboat, especially one used for racing; specifically, a six-oared sea rowing boat commonly found in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (see above).<\/li>\n<li>A two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It comes from Middle English <em>gigg<\/em> (spinning object, a top), possibly from Old Norse (?), from Proto-Germanic <em>*g\u012bgan\u0105<\/em> (to move, wish, desire), etc, or ultimately onomatopoeic [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gig#Etymology_3\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What links the words gig and jig, and what do they have to do a German word Geige (violin)? Let&#8217;s find out. A gig [\u0261\u026a\u0261] can mean: A live performance by a musician, band, musicial group or comedian A job or role for a performer (in film, television, theatre, etc.) Any job, especially one that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,107,111,116,10,26,177,34,178,36,44,78],"tags":[158,465,462,464,466,463,138,281,163],"class_list":["post-24129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","category-etymology","category-french","category-german","category-language","category-middle-english","category-middle-high-german","category-old-french","category-old-high-german","category-old-norse","category-proto-germanic","category-words-and-phrases","tag-etymology","tag-geige","tag-gig","tag-gigue","tag-guinguette","tag-jig","tag-language","tag-omniglot","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24129"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24133,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24129\/revisions\/24133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}