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'Gig ‘em Aggies' is the universal hand gesture of all Texas A&M University current and former students as sign of affiliation. Rather than end a conversation with "goodbye," many conversations between Aggies end with "gig 'em," usually accompanied by a hand signal in which the hand is fisted and the thumb extends upwards.

Contents

History

Alternate story

External links

References

History

This tradition began at the 1930 Midnight Yell Practice, held before the football game against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. In an attempt to fire up the crowd, Pinky Downs, a 1906 Texas A&M graduate and member of the school's Board of Regents, asked "What are we going to do to those Horned Frogs?" Using a term for frog hunting, he answered his own question, "Gig 'em, Aggies!" For emphasis, he made a fist with the thumb extended. The phrase and hand signal proved popular, and it became the first hand sign of the Southwest Conference.^[1]

Alternate story

While Pinky Downs is universally credited with originating the gig 'em hand signal, the story of the origin varies by the teller. The alternate story is that one day Pinky was punishing two freshman cadets for some infraction. While watching the two freshman doing pushups a senior cadet walked by and said "Gig 'em Pinky," in this case a ''gig'' meaning a military demerit. Pinky then turned and gave the senior a thumbs up sign.^[2]

External links

★ Gig 'em - Texas Aggie traditions

References

1.
2. gig (‘em)