|
|
#96108
02/18/2003 4:21 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1 |
Can anyone help with the derivation of the phrase "working stiff"? Thanks.
|
|
|
#96109
02/18/2003 4:25 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I have no idea as to the origin, but it usually refers to someone so underprivileged that
he must accept the most menial low paid hard work.
|
|
|
#96110
02/18/2003 5:57 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
I think it refers to the ordinary working man; thus:
Charley said that working stiffs ought to stick together for decent living conditions.
- John Dos Passos, _42nd Parallel_, 1930
The idea of two young working stiffs [Woodward and Bernstein] carrying off the prize is irresistible to youngsters with their careers before them. - Guardian Weekly 10 July 1977
(Dos Passos is the earliest cite in OED2)
---
then there is "working stiff" as used in pro wrasslin', which means pulling no punches, in a style that could actually hurt your opponent (and/or yourself!).
|
|
|
#96111
02/21/2003 12:48 AM
|
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Well, a "stiff" is slang for a dead body. I always associated "working stiff" as someone who had neither the time nor the money to have a life.
|
|
|
#96112
02/21/2003 3:54 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
Could stiff have to do with the starched collar 'the suits' have to wear? The modern business man is often also compared to a zombie; not one of the dead, but the undead [knees tremble]. The template lifestyle led by office workers is the reasoning, I guess.
"Working stiff" also reminds me of the phrase 'to work your fingers to the bone' or until you have a 'stiff neck'.
|
|
|
#96113
02/21/2003 4:14 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
A gigolo? 
|
|
|
#96114
02/21/2003 10:25 AM
|
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
gigolo-158,000 hits on google
gigalo-4,130 hits on google
giggolo-2,080 hits on google
giggalo-482 hits on google
tsuwm's formula doesn't hold up here
|
|
|
#96115
02/21/2003 1:58 PM
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Consuelo!  Googling for gigolos?...hmmmmm? 
|
|
|
#96116
02/21/2003 2:07 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
tsuwm's formula doesn't hold up here
Did tsuwm attually® have a formula? If there was a formula I would have interpreted it as saying that a correct spelling is going to score at least ten times as high as an incorrect spelling on the googlometer. Gigolo scores more than twenty times the combined scores of all the others.
This ignores double l spellings, but even they don't bring the total up to 10 to 1
The old Wobblie defintion of working stiff included anyone who did manual labor of any sort. The idea that it would refer to stiff collars would have gotten you hooted out of the camp.
|
|
|
#96117
02/21/2003 3:08 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Riddle: why were the widow's thighs like the cemetery gate?
They always opened up for...........
|
|
|
#96118
02/27/2003 7:24 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
(from Cambridge Dictionary of American English)
stiff (PERSON)
noun [C]
SLANG
a person of the type described
I'm just a working stiff.
You lucky stiff!
(SLANG) A stiff is also a dead person's body.
Looking at various dictionaries it seems that a 'stiff' is slang for an ordinary person, usually used in conjunction with 'working' or 'lucky'. No indication of the origin is given anywhere that I can find.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
