hose dragger
n.—Gloss: a nickname for a firefighter.
«Butler, a former Coast Guard captain, conceded he had limited experience as what’s known as a “hose dragger” but noted he has had years of planning and preparatory experience.» —“St. Paul / 4 finalists for fire chief named” by Time Nelson Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota) Sept. 27, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...
As we’ve previously discussed, firefighters don and doff their equipment, terms deriving from do on and do off. They are also said to dout a fire, meaning they “extinguish” it, dout being a similar shortening of do out. This is...
Another nickname, although not very complimentary, is slab-wetter. Referring to the firemen as those people who do not save structures, just wet down the concrete slab once the structure has burned to the ground.