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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The original thread was getting rather long, and I have a lot more material for Faldage to mock. Look at this list of just items starting with "A"
Amber cutter a person who cut ambergris
Ankle beater a young person who helped drive cattle to market
Anatto maker a person who worked in the manufacture of dyes for paint or printing
Antigropelos maker a person who made waterproof leggings
Apiarana a beekeeper
Alnager an official who examined the quality of woolen goods, and stamped seal of approval
Archiator a physician
Argolet a mounted bowman
Arkwright a skilled craftsman who produced wooden chests or coffers
Arpenteur a land surveyor
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veteran
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veteran
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Slightly changing focus here, let me ask all of you how you pronounce 'cooper' and 'hooper'. (As is well known, a cooper makes barrels, or, more specifically, he fashions the staves and heads and assembles them into a barrel, cask, hogshead, bucket, soe, etc. with hoops which are made (or used to be) by a hooper from lath.)
In Maryland, both of these words, as well as 'hoop', are pronounced by older people, or by people named Cooper or Hooper, with the 'oo' the same as in 'foot', not as in 'soon', as is the case elsewhere in the U.S. so far as I know, and by younger people.
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veteran
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veteran
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Back to the original focus. There are a number of words ending in '-wright' -- wheelwright, cartwright, to name two, which are preserved in family names, as are many occupations.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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let me ask all of you how you pronounce 'cooper'
And what's the correct pronunciation of William Cowper, the British poet? I vaguely remember hearing it pronounced Cooper.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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And what's the correct pronunciation of William Cowper, the British poet? I vaguely remember hearing it pronounced Cooper.That is the way we were taught to pronounce his name in Eng. Lit. classes. Cooper and Hooper I would pronounce as in loose or Lew, but not in few. But just as the pigeon coos. But not how I would in the wood(pigeon). 
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Here come the "B's":
Backmaker_______________________same as cooper
Ballast heaver____________________loaded stones into bilge of ships to improve sailing behaviour
Baller up________________________assisted potter my making balls of clay for potter to shape
Band filer_______________________metal worker in gun factory
Bandster_______________________one who bound sheaves after reapers
Bang Begger (slang)______________a constable with a strong staff
Banker (not what you might think)__a ditch digger who piled dirt on both sides of ditch
Banquetter (surprise)_____________a broker or banker
Bar Keeper______________________highway toll collector
Barker__________________________a tanner, and also a family name
Barkman________________________a barge man
Beadle_________________________a town crier, also kept order in church
Beaver_________________________a hat maker
Bedman________________________a sexton - a sexton (not sex by the ton) rang bells, dug graves,etc.
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old hand
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old hand
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Arpenteur a land surveyorDear Dr. Bill, I know my father has been feeling, of late, like he has an obsolete occupation. The job market can be tough for a guy his age who wasn't educated in Canada, even though he's been working here 30 years. But he is working today - in fact, as we speak (type?) - so I don't think land surveyors are quite obsolete, just yet. There are plenty of them around, without them you wouldn't know where to build your house or your road. Or your movie theatre, or your new subdivision, or your train tracks... 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oooh, ooh ooooh. Cain't wait till you gits to the O's.. One of my favorites that, now that everthang is computerized, is parbly obsolete by now. Offset stripper.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Bean: But does your Dad call himself an "arpenteur"?
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old hand
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old hand
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But does your Dad call himself an "arpenteur"?
No. But the definition only says "land surveyor" rather than naming a particular subcategory that is obsolete. I was just arguing that the general profession of land surveyors is still around, for sure! And sadly thinking of how odd it is that it was named in this thread, since he's been having many days in the last few years where he's certainly felt obsolete...poor fella...
In Québec he might be called an arpenteur. In Italy he's called a "Geometra" (JOH-meh-trah) and it's used as a prefix to his last name, just as we use "doctor". I love the Italian word for it - when you hear it, there's no doubt that his job is to measure things!
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