Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2020 July 12

= July 12 =

English word meaning unskilled worker
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)
 * Redneck? TFD (talk) 19:41, 12 July 2020 (UTC)


 * 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)


 * 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)


 * But thanks to Deor's link I found it! Roustabout. Thanks everyone! ---Sluzzelin talk  19:47, 12 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Wow, it even was the title of an Elvis movie ... ---Sluzzelin  talk  19:50, 12 July 2020 (UTC)


 * 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)


 * Maybe Peon? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:10, 13 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Sluzzelin had already posted that he had found the correct answer before you made that suggestion. --Viennese Waltz 11:17, 13 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Where? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:59, 13 July 2020 (UTC)
 * --Viennese Waltz 12:14, 13 July 2020 (UTC)
 * The word "navvy" is a contraction of the rather grand sounding "navigational engineer". 62.30.198.76 (talk) 12:05, 13 July 2020 (UTC)


 * (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)
 * Very good. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:11, 13 July 2020 (UTC)