Speaking of obscure references...

I posted a definition last week sometime from my ratty copy of the Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, and it occurred to me that I have another dictionary on my desk that is equally interesting--The Construction Dictionary, published by the Greater Phoenix Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction.

What makes it interesting is the number of slang terms in it, and especially the fact that even in these overly-sensitive times, it even has the culturally derogatory ones. In the preface, this is noted, and it states that in the process of creating the third edition [they're on their ninth now] the compilers produced "a dictionary with over 13,500 definitions of technical and slang terms. These included many that are encountered daily on the jobsite or in the construction office...and some that should not be." Thankfully, they're still in there anyway.

A couple that I dare reprint here (due to having some Irish in me) are:

Irish confetti--bricks.

and

Irish fan--a shovel.

A couple of others (that I will sanitize for the more delicate among my readers) include:

[Insert name of favorite stereotypically lazy and/or moronic cultural subgroup] backhoe--a pick.

[Insert name of favorite stereotypically lazy and/or moronic cultural subgroup] crusher--a hammer.

[Insert name of favorite stereotypically lazy and/or moronic cultural subgroup]-head--any unbroken rock in excess of four inches.

[Insert name of favorite stereotypically lazy and/or moronic cultural subgroup] speed wrench--a pair of pliers.

Amazing what construction workers can come up with.
posted by Terry at 4:24:00 PM