Since crafts and guilds, from musicians to plumbers, are by their very
nature closed societies, they tend to hold on to obscure expressions
long after the general population has given them up. For this reason
such words are best to be found in an older dictionary. Hermann Paul's
"Deutches Wörterbuch" (Halle a. S., 1897) furnishes the north German
"Kiecke," a primitive foot-warmer (a pot of hot coals held in a
receptacle drilled full of holes). "Kieckser" were the spitting coals
that escaped to burn holes in your socks (the word was also used
colloquially for fireworks).
The German word for "Gig," "Mugge" (now pronounced "Mukke"), is another
that is not to be found in contemporary dictionaries. "Mugge" is short
for "musikalisches Gelegenheits-Geschäft," officialese coined by the
old Prussian tax office to get their share of musicians' extra
earnings.
Bill Melton
Hauset (B) / Sinfonie Orchester Aachen (D)
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