stock-jobber

[Victor Steinbok]

I have no beef with this--in fact, I'm aware of it. My question
concerned only the specific contemporaneous definition (Webster 1828)
that applied to several cites on the subject of Bank of US scandal in
1834. This particular definition is not found among the ones in the OED
or in any of the other contemporary dictionaries. OneLook finds it under
Webster 1828 only. But, yes, the most common definitions include the
pejorative reference to a stockbroker or the singularly British one "One
who deals only with brokers or other jobbers." What I want to know is if
it's worth resurrecting the apparently now-lost definition of a
public-fund speculator, particularly with the OED being a "historical
dictionary".

     VS-)

On 2/23/2011 2:12 AM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> I would point out that "stock-jobber" was a defined role on the London
> Stock Exchange until 1986. In the US, however, the word was used more
> as a desirory slang word for speculators and other securities traders.
>
> in Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (1923) you find this line:
> "Nevertheless public spirited men in Boston were denounced  as
> stock-jobbers..."
>
> DanG
>
> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 12:44 AM, Victor Steinbok<aardvark66 at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> While browsing the 1834 newspapers in connection with the US Bank
>> scandal (think of it as the ACA of the period, complete with claims of
>> unconstitutionality), I came across several references to "stock-jobber"
>> and "stock-jobbing". This would be quite unremarkable, as OED has both
>> with the range going in both directions by 50-200 years from that point.
>> The trouble is, there is a bit of loose change here that needs to be
>> accounted for. All the references, by the nature of the search, are to
>> public transaction--essentially federal deposits to the Bank of the
>> United States and their withdrawal on the orders of Andrew Jackson. 1828
>> Webster's--only 6 years prior--has a dual definition for "stock-jobber":
>>
>>> One who speculates in the public funds for gain; one whose occupation
>>> is to buy and sell stocks.
>> The second part, complete with "contemptuous", is in the OED, but not
>> the first. There is no reference to "public funds" anywhere in the OED
>> definitions in either "stock-jobber" or "stock-jobbing".
>>
>> Please let me know if these references are worth pursuing and I will
>> track them down again. Otherwise, I shall assume the issue to be too
>> minor and unworthy of attention.
>>
>>      VS-)

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