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July 12[edit]

English word meaning unskilled worker[edit]

In an interview with Robert Redford (but I can't locate it) he talked about having worked as an unskilled worker for the oil industry (before his artistic career, obviously), and he used a word I hadn't heard and looked up (and the explanation was something like 'unskilled worker'), but I can't recall the word now. I know it had more than one syllable - it wasn't "grunt" or "drudge", it sounded nicer than those too, but I can't remember it. Any help? Thank you in advance! ---Sluzzelin talk 19:33, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Redneck? TFD (talk) 19:41, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Roughneck is often used for oil-drilling workers (perhaps that's what TFD was thinking of above). Deor (talk) 19:43, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

No, both are words, I thought I had understood, but now I'm unsure ... In any event, I'd already heard 'redneck' and 'roughneck' ... this was a word I hadn't heard, regardless of its meaning. ---Sluzzelin talk 19:45, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

But thanks to Deor's link I found it! Roustabout. Thanks everyone! ---Sluzzelin talk 19:47, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, it even was the title of an Elvis movie ... ---Sluzzelin talk 19:50, 12 July 2020 (UTC) [reply]

Ginzel? "Slang term for a worker of the lowest 'rank', often a rookie with no oilfield experience whatsoever." -- (WHAAOE: Glossary of oilfield jargon). 107.15.157.44 (talk) 10:09, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe Peon? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:10, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Sluzzelin had already posted that he had found the correct answer before you made that suggestion. --Viennese Waltz 11:17, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Where? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:59, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

[1] --Viennese Waltz 12:14, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The word "navvy" is a contraction of the rather grand sounding "navigational engineer". 62.30.198.76 (talk) 12:05, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

(Replying to Baseball Bugs) I didn't make it that clear. But roustabout is the word I was looking for, and I found it on the list given in the article on roughneck Deor had linked to. (I don't like using the resolved tag, but it's resolved). ---Sluzzelin talk 12:14, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Very good. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:11, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]