Forum: english.stackexchange.com
Tags: <meaning><idioms><vocabulary>
Title: What does the expression "body shop" mean?
Question: I recently encountered the expression "the man in the body shop", and I have absolutely no idea what it means. All help is welcome.

Answers:
sents: text: body shop : Date: 1954 a shop where automotive bodies are made or repaired See this article for "body shop" context: From the sales floor to the body shop to the office there is a resounding feeling that this Ford dealership is a good place to work.
text: The man in the body shop pointed out that the air filter system overhead was something that Dean Green voluntarily installed for the welfare of the employees.
text: so...
text: basically "the mechanic", the technician, the repairman.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/110/VonC
score: 10
sents: text: Without knowing the context, I can think of body shop as "a garage where repairs to the bodies of vehicles are carried out"; the phrase would then refer to somebody who repairs automotive bodies.
text: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary dates body shop to 1954.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/252/kiamlaluno
score: 3
sents: text: When your car breaks down, you take it to the shop (rarely referred to as a garage any more.)
text: When your car gets dented in a fender-bender, you take it to the body shop.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/67/moioci
score: 1
sents: text: In the UK, body shop means this http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/ , The Body Shop http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Shop , a chain of shops selling products for the body, face, hair and home.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/58799/Tristan r
score: 1
sents: text: Body shopping can also refer to consulting companies that hire people and then provide them directly to their clients for the clients to manage (as opposed to the consulting companies managing them).
text: The wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_shopping seems to focus on offshore / outsourced work, but it can apply to other consulting companies as well.
text: In this case the "body shop" would refer to the consulting company, and so "the man in the body shop" might be someone who works for that kind of consulting company.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/60616/Saxon Druce
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
The term "body shop" could refer to multiple different things, although the most common is probably "a garage where repairs to the bodies of vehicles are carried out". However, the term could also refer to a chain of shops selling body, face and hair products in the UK or a consulting company that provide people to their clients.
The term can mean a place where car bodies are repaired or a firm that hires people out to other firms. It can also refer to a chain of the same name.
The term "body shop" could refer to multiple different things, although the most common is probably "a garage where repairs to the bodies of vehicles are carried out". However, the term could also refer to a chain of shops selling body, face and hair products in the UK or a consulting company that provide people to their clients.
A body shop  as a garage where repairs to the bodies of vehicles are carried out. In the UK,  body shop  also refers to a chain of shops selling products for the body, face, hair and home.
A body shop  may be "a garage where repairs to the bodies of vehicles are carried out". The phrase would then refer to somebody who repairs automotive bodies. In the UK, The Body Shop  is a chain of shops selling products for the body, face, hair and home.
The term "body shop" most likely refers to a workshop where cary bodies are repaired. However, in the UK, it may refer to a high-street cosmetics shop.