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Any Answers? (Slang Terms For Tradesmen)

Floyd1 said:
Aussies found it hilarious that I said 'skip' for what you call a bin.
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We call them skips too. Generally it's an industrial bin that can be loaded onto a truck or requires emptying by one.
A bin is usually what we throw household waste and garbage into. Most houses have at least 3, one for regular garbage, one for recyclable material and one for green waste.
 
Lord Lucan said:
We call them skips too. Generally it's an industrial bin that can be loaded onto a truck or requires emptying by one.
A bin is usually what we throw household waste and garbage into. Most houses have at least 3, one for regular garbage, one for recyclable material and one for green waste.
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That's odd then because two Aussies and a Kiwi couldn't stop laughing when I said it.
 
Ronnie Jersey said:
And why do the British call cops 'bobbies'?
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The first - or at least some of the earliest - British police were the creation of Sir Robert Peel, hence the use of 'peelers', now pretty archaic, and 'bobbies', which I suspect is getting on for being archaic these days...

https://gmpmuseum.co.uk/collection-item/the-peeler/

And check out Roger Miller's 'England Swings'; I like an up-to-date cultural reference...!

 
We have sparkies. Especially handy if you don't know the sparky's name. "Hey, Sparky, is this supposed to be smoking?"

The best term I've heard for plumbers is turd herders. It's not generally derisive per se, but not exactly a compliment. "Whenever the turd herders get finished in there, you can touch up the paint, then lock the door."

I like the old joke about the plumber who got called to a lawyer's house to fix a leaky faucet. It was a quick job. The plumber wrote up an invoice and handed it to the lawyer, who loudly protested, "Two hundred dollars!? You haven't been here more than twenty minutes. That's six hundred dollars an hour. I don't even make that much in my law practice!" The plumber calmly replied, "Neither did I."
 
A bit off topic perhaps, but I’ve always seemed to attract nicknames for some reason.

My dad called be fours as a kid, as I have always worn glasses. My grandad called me bins for the same reason.

At school I was known universally as dancer - I once played the lead role in a school production of the musical Greece. :cool:

My first ever job, I was known as moon cat -for reasons I couldn’t then and still can’t fathom.

In my previous company I worked at, I was known by all as Kenny Bubble – my real name is not Ken and I am not of Greek Heritage, so god knows why I was known as that.

In my present company I am known Chicken. The clue there is a because of a well-known eastern European food item, and my real first name.
 
Dick Turpin said:
A bit off topic perhaps, but I’ve always seemed to attract nicknames for some reason.

My dad called be fours as a kid, as I have always worn glasses. My grandad called me bins for the same reason.

At school I was known universally as dancer - I once played the lead role in a school production of the musical Greece. :cool:

My first ever job, I was known as moon cat -for reasons I couldn’t then and still can’t fathom.

In my previous company I worked at, I was known by all as Kenny Bubble – my real name is not Ken and I am not of Greek Heritage, so god knows why I was known as that.

In my present company I am known Chicken. The clue there is a because of a well-known eastern European food item, and my real first name.
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I had two nicknames when I was at university: Batman and Asterix, like I was in some cartoon world!

Batman because I wore a cape (yeah, I know) and Asterix because I wore my hair in plaits, which is actually more Obelix than Asterix but I didn't have the build for that...
 
Dick Turpin said:
In my present company I am known Chicken. The clue there is a because of a well-known eastern European food item, and my real first name.
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I was going to say 'Joe' as in;
CJ.jpg
 
Dick Turpin said:
My first ever job, I was known as moon cat -for reasons I couldn’t then and still can’t fathom.

In my previous company I worked at, I was known by all as Kenny Bubble – my real name is not Ken and I am not of Greek Heritage, so god knows why I was known as that.
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And you didn't think to ask, Dick?
 
Mikefule said:
*Gypsies/travellers: Two different groups, linked in the popular imagination y the fact that they both traditionally lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Gypsies are Romani/Romany people, but the Irish Travellers are a genetically and culturally distinct Irish group believed to have diverged from the settled community around the time of Cromwell, or possibly earlier. Gypsy is also often seen as an offensive term, but the situation is made more complex when Tyson Fury (of Irish traveller stock) refers to himself as "the Gypsy King".
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I think 'Traveller' in this sense is a recent term. Gypsies (shortened from Egyptians in the mistaken belief that is where they originated) are true Romany, non Romany 'travellers' are called Didicoy.
 
eziofan said:
I think 'Traveller' in this sense is a recent term. Gypsies (shortened from Egyptians in the mistaken belief that is where they originated) are true Romany, non Romany 'travellers' are called Didicoy.
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Travelling People is polite and correct - and Minceir is what a subgroup of Irishb Travelling people call themselevs :)

There arer whole other languages, cants and argots - it's fabulous!
 
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