A man who keeps or drives a gig (a light, two-wheeled carriage); a hired driver or cabman.
From 'gig' (a horse-drawn carriage, from uncertain origins) + 'man' (a male person). A 19th-century occupational title for a working-class profession.
Before cars, every city had hundreds of 'gigmen' competing for fares—they were basically the Uber drivers of Victorian London, complete with the same hustle mentality!
A man of modest means who kept a gig (carriage) for appearances. The term carries assumptions about masculinity tied to economic status and social performance; historically applied with gendered expectations of male respectability.
Use 'someone of modest means who maintains appearances' or specify the historical context if discussing period literature.
["person of modest means","working-class gentleman"]
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