Pre-Archaic Industrial Jargon

[Jonathan Lighter]

I'm not making this up.  When I was a kid, NYC buses displayed over the
driver's position a municipal permit that allowed Fifth Avenue Coach Lines
to "operate a stage coach" in NYC.

And, of course, NYC taxis were licensed by the Hack Bureau and granted a
Hack License.

JL

On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 10:46 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Pre-Archaic Industrial Jargon
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Brotherhood of Teamsters, Stablemen, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen,
> Draymen, and Helpers of America," a former name of the Teamsters
> Union, yields
>
> _teamsters  stablemen  draymen_
>
> of which, AFAIK, only _teamsters_ remains, used capitalized as
> _Teamsters_, and usually referring only to members of the Teamsters
> Union.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 1:39 PM, Martin Kaminer <martin.kaminer at gmail.com>
> wrote:
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> > Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Â  Â  Â  Martin Kaminer <martin.kaminer at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Â  Â  Â Pre-Archaic Industrial Jargon
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I'm wondering about the way in which words no longer in common usage
> > appear as blue-collar occupational titles. Â This morning I was stuck
> > in traffic between trucks belonging to a 'dismantler' and a
> > 'purveyor', each an intriguing contrast between the sesquipedalian and
> > the quotidian. Â I'm thinking also of 'demurrage charges' for rented
> > mechanical equipment (to say nothing of bills of lading) and other
> > ways in which the pace of language change mirrors the pace of
> > technological change, or lack thereof. Â Curious if there are other
> > examples which support or disprove. Â I can only imagine what folks
> > will be saying about the 'quaint' fiber optic installation vans
> > decades hence.
> >
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