The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1883-09-26
BAD woRKMEN NlcKNaMEp.
What skilled Trndesu,e" Call InferisI
Hands.


Strikes bring out the technical slang o.
the trades, and particularly the opprobrious
spithets with which the different classes OF
worlenen distingnish tho unaldlled opera
iYes who labor OF the same trades. In most
cases it will be found that these slang terms
originate in some teehnicahty of the trAde.
Thus the telegraphers call poor operator
plug" after the little metal implement
which divides the switches on the keyboard,
nasmuch as the plug, or key" is com
paratively unimportant part Of the machin-
cry. Printers designate an unskilled type
setter " shoemaker" or " blacksmith. :"
The derivation of the former appellation is
from the fact that composition who makes
srrors is obliged TO correct them after the
type is set up by taking out the misplaced
letters and pegging the proper ones into
their places. Tailors also use the word
" shoemaker TO distinguish poor hand,
as an unskilled workman takes his stitches
too far apart and is therefore better adapted
to sew leather, where he can punch holes
with an awl before putting his needle
through. The appellation = blacksmith " is
applied to a printer whose fingers are
clumsy, and q jeweler also terms an I'M
skilled worker at his trade blacksmith '
for the same reason. A term of opprobrium,
which was used by old New York printers
30 designate an unskilled composition, was
the word boarder," from the fact that
poor hand was generally o drinking man,
and spent his time loating or boarding =
in liquor saloons. All striking trades-work-
ers in common use the generic word !" scab''
to distinguish workmen who take the place
of strikers. The derivation lis obviously
from the fact that the scab, is morbid
growth, and lives only at the expense of the
well being of the rest Of the body, Com
positors call scab 'srat," in contempt
nous allusion to the rodents who irfest
printing offices. The telegraphers have
only recently invented a term for scab opera
tors. They call them " contumists, though
the application is not of technical derivation,
but is probably an attempt TO manufacture
u word from the Latin contumaa, the root
of contumacious, to describe a stubborn
and obstinate person.
The various name actors give to the I'M
skilled members of their profession are
familiar to most of the reading world. A
poor actor is termed variously stick
"falsir," statue" or dummy" A
stick or statue" is, naturally enough,
an actor who is awkward and stiff on the
stage. The term dummy" is derived
from the fact that when travelling CON-
pany has not enough members in the troupe
to fill up large stage, men and women are
employed to stand in the back with choruses
Of supernumeraries and take no other part
They are called dummies" "Falfir ia q
generic form, and comprises those actors
who lack talent and depend upon other
resources. For instance, comedian who
makes faces is called "mugger," and a
tragedian who bellows is " ranter," and
both are fakirs-" The professors of the
manly art are also apt in this style OF
nomenclature. The.' GALL a cowardly fighter
"duffer," and weak or unskilled boxer
" sand bag" or " stuff, !" the hitter terms
being derived from the continuance upon
which the pugilist does his practice
York Times.