Gig

Gig or GIG may refer to:

Trident

A trident /ˈtraɪdənt/ is a three-pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the god of the sea in classical mythology. In Hindu mythology it is the weapon of Shiva, known as trishula (Sanskrit for "triple-spear").

Etymology

The word "trident" comes from the French word trident, which in turn comes from the Latin word tridens or tridentis: tri "three" and dentes "teeth". Sanskrit trishula is compound of tri त्रि "three""thorn".

The Greek equivalent is τρίαινα (tríaina), from Proto-Greek trianja (threefold).

Uses

In Greek, Roman, and Hindu mythology, the trident is said to have the power of control over the ocean.

Fishing

Tridents for fishing usually have barbed tines which trap the speared fish firmly. In the Southern and Midwestern United States, gigging is used for harvesting suckers, bullfrogs, flounder, and many species of rough fish.

Combat

The trident, known as dangpa, is featured as a weapon in the 17th- to 18th-century systems of Korean martial arts.

Gig (music)

Gig is slang for a musical engagement hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance. More broadly, the term "gigging" means having paid work, being employed.

A gig is sometimes called a "set", referring to the set list of compositions played.

The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes it as "a term commonly applied to a musical engagement of one night's duration only; to undertake such an engagement," (although the term "regular gig" is common in reference to a repeating engagement). The first documented use of this term in this way appears in 1926: Melody Maker 7 September 1926, with the story byline stating, "One Popular Gig Band Makes Use of a Nicely Printed Booklet."

References

See also

Mercer (automobile)

Mercer was an American automobile manufacturer from 1909 until 1925. It was notable for its high-performance cars, especially the Type 35 Raceabout.

Early history

There was considerable talent and backing for the Mercer Automobile Company; Ferdinand Roebling, son of John A. Roebling, was the president, and his nephew Washington A. Roebling II was the general manager. The Roeblings had extensive success with wire rope manufacturing and suspension bridge design; engineering was not a recent concept for them. The secretary-treasurer was John L. Kuser, who, with his brothers Frederick and Anthony, had amassed a fortune from banking, bottling and brewing.

Washington A. Roebling II was friends with William Walter, who had been making a small number of high-quality automobiles in New York City. The Kusers owned a vacant brewery in Hamilton, New Jersey, and brought Walter and his car factory there in 1906. However, Walter found himself deeply in debt by 1909, so the Roeblings and Kusers bought him out in a foreclosure sale. They changed the company name to Mercer, named after Mercer County, New Jersey. Talented designers and race drivers contributed to the new effort, and the focus became proving their product in competition.

Mercery

Mercery (from French mercerie, the notions trade) initially referred to silk, linen, and fustian textiles imported to England in the 12th century.

The term mercery later extended to goods made of these and the sellers of those goods.

Mercer

The term mercer for cloth merchants (from French mercier, "notions dealer") is now largely obsolete. Mercers were formerly merchants or traders who dealt in cloth, typically fine cloth that was not produced locally. However inventories of mercers in small towns suggest that many were shopkeepers who dealt in various other dry commodities, not only cloth. Related occupations include haberdasher, draper and cloth merchant, while clothier historically referred to someone who manufactured cloth, often under the domestic system.

By the 21st century the word mercer was primarily used in connection with the Worshipful Company of Mercers, one of the twelve great Liveries Companies of the City of London.

Prominent mercers

Mercer (consulting firm)

Mercer is the world's largest human resources consulting firm. Headquartered in New York City, Mercer has more than 20,500 employees, is based in more than 40 countries, and operates internationally in more than 130 countries. Mercer is a subsidiary of global professional services firm Marsh & McLennan.

History

Started in the United States in 1937 as the employee benefits department of Marsh & McLennan, Inc., the company took the name of “William M. Mercer” in 1959, when Marsh & McLennan acquired William M. Mercer Limited, a Canadian firm founded by William Manson Mercer in Vancouver in 1945. In 1959, Mercer became a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. In 2002, its name was changed to Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

In 2004, the company acquired Houston, TX-based Synhrgy HR Technologies, a human resources technology and outsourcing services company. Also in 2004, Mercer admitted giving the NYSE board a compensation report that contained "omissions and inaccuracies" that led to a $139.5 million pay package for former NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso. Mercer had been brought in to advise the stock exchange on Grasso's 2003 contract and his request for $139.5 million. The consultancy returned $440,000 in fees it collected from the NYSE and provided key documents in the lawsuit.