Flea market
Encyclopedia
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent. The flea-market vendors may range from a family that is renting a table for the first time to sell a few unwanted household items to a commercial operation including a large variety of new or used merchandise, including scouts who rove the region buying items for sale from garage sales and other flea markets, and several staff watching the stalls.
Many flea markets have food vendors who sell snacks and drinks to the patrons, and may be associated with carnivals or concerts. Some flea market vendors have been targeted by law enforcement efforts to halt the sale of bootleg
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
movies and music or knockoff brand clothing, accessories, or fragrances.
Flea market vending, though similar in structure, should not be compared with street vending. The correlation between the two, though existent, is not exact. Flea market vending, as we know it, presents distinct elements setting it apart from street vending. Street vending takes place where a large crowd gathers and relies specifically on impulse buyers to be present, but who are in the area at the time for underlying reasons. The flea market, however, is the arena and the vendors are the show that attracts the crowds that gather for the sole purpose of buying. Flea market vending is also set in a controlled area that is governed by a self-imposed code of conduct. Unlike flea market vendors, and more often than not, street vendors do not knowingly recognize a code of conduct.
Regional names
Different English-speaking countries use varying names for flea markets. In Australian EnglishAustralian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
, they are called trash and treasure markets, trash and trivia or (more commonly) swap meets. In the Philippine English
Philippine English
Philippine English is the variety of English used in the Philippines by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Filipino, a standardized version of Tagalog.English is used in education,...
, the word is tiangge, believed to be a loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
from the Hokkien
Hokkien
Hokkien is a Hokkien word corresponding to Standard Chinese "Fujian". It may refer to:* Hokkien dialect, a dialect of Min Nan Chinese spoken in Southern Fujian , Taiwan, South-east Asia, and elsewhere....
spoken by Chinese Filipino
Chinese Filipino
A Chinese Filipino derived from two words: "Tsino" and "Pinoy" ) is a Philippine national of Chinese ethnicity but born/raised in the Philippines....
migrants, or possibly from Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
tianguis
Tianguis
A tianguis is an open air market or bazaar that is traditionally held on certain market days in a town or city neighborhood in Mexico and Central America. This bazaar tradition has its roots well into the pre-Hispanic period and continues in many cases essentially unchanged into the present day....
via Mexican Spanish
Mexican Spanish
Mexican Spanish is a version of the Spanish language, as spoken in Mexico and in various places of Canada and the United States of America, where there are communities of Mexican origin....
. In India it is known as "Gurjari" or "Shrukawadi Bazzar" or even as "Juna Bazzar". .
Origin
The origins of the term are disputed, but according to one theory the Fly Market in 18th century New York City began the association. The Dutch word VlaieVlaie
Vlaie, Vly or Fly is the Dutch vlaie, meaning a swamp. It also applies to creeks and mountains in the vicinities. The term appears in place names in areas of Dutch influence in North America, such as the Hudson Valley...
, or vlie, with the v being pronounced f, meaning a swamp or valley, was located at Maiden Lane near the East River in Manhattan. The land on which the market stood was originally a salt marsh with a brook. By the early 1800's the "Fly Market" was the principal market in New York City.
The phrase "flea market
Flea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
" is also a common English phrase calque
Calque
In linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation.-Calque:...
that literally translates the French "marché aux puces" ("market where one acquires fleas").
See also
- Car boot saleCar boot saleCar boot/trunk sales or boot/trunk fairs are a mainly British form of market in which private individuals come together to sell household and garden goods.The term refers to the selling of items from a car's boot or trunk...
- Farmers' marketFarmers' marketA farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
- HamfestHamfestA Hamfest is a convention of amateur radio enthusiasts, often combining a trade show, flea market, and various other activities of interest to amateur radio operators . In the United Kingdom the term rally is more commonly used for amateur radio conventions...
- Pasar malamPasar malamPasar malam is a Malay and Indonesian word that literally means "night market", "pasar" being related to "bazaar" in Persian. A pasar malam is a street market in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore that opens in the evening, usually in residential neighbourhoods.It brings together a collection of...
- Thrift store
- TianguisTianguisA tianguis is an open air market or bazaar that is traditionally held on certain market days in a town or city neighborhood in Mexico and Central America. This bazaar tradition has its roots well into the pre-Hispanic period and continues in many cases essentially unchanged into the present day....
- Yard sale
- Garage saleGarage saleA garage sale, also known as a yard sale, rummage sale, tag sale, lawn sale, attic sale, moving sale, or junk sale, is an informal, irregularly scheduled event for the sale of used goods by private individuals, in which "block sales" are allowed, so that sellers are not required to obtain business...
- White elephant saleWhite elephant saleA White elephant sale is a collection of used items being sold by a non-professional group of individuals second hand, much akin to a yard sale or garage sale, usually as a fund-raiser.-Description:...
External links
- http://www.thefleamarkets.com/directory/index.php Find Flea Markets in North America.