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There's more discussion of G-job in this thread.
Where I work G-job stands for Government job, but its actual meaning is that you are doing some personal work on company time. So your boss walks into the lab, and ask what you are working on, your answer is "this is a G job".
I think I first heard it used this way 20 years ago, and have heard it many times since.
I agree with Art and Mark. On the episode I heard on Sat, Dec 1 2007 the meaning of the phrase "G Job" was discussed.
I worked as a contractor on many military and government projects and when government projects had "deep pockets," there were always more workers than needed on a job. Many workers had lots of time on their hands and so would pursue their own personal projects or fabricate things related to their particular area of expertise (electronics for example). When anyone referred to these projects it was called a "G Job" which was short for "Government Job", a sort of cross between a cynical remark and a code word (for those who didn't know any better (such as a new "green" boss or a family member or friend. I suspect that this phrase was more common in the 50s to 70s when a lot of government money was available and so has fallen into disuse or forgotten by the younger generation.
Like the original caller, I too worked in the film industry, although as a camera assistant; not a grip. I was introduced to the phrase "'G' job by some old-timers in the industry, guys who had been working for 30+ years. Not familiar with the term, I asked its meaning and was explicitly told it stood for government job. We used it to mean a personal job, but in our case it was a personal job for someone else--your supervisor or department head. I did many "G" jobs in my day, such as finding the right tires for my camerman's car, calling his credit card company to make sure they didn't cancel his card, pay his bills, sneak out of the studio to get cigarettes, fix his computer, photocopy books, etc.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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