When Kentrell from West Memphis, Arkansas, worked for a granite company, his co-workers who were about to put two pieces of granite together would say I’m going to pull a seam. But why would they use the word pull for the action of pushing...
After our conversation about the expression dingle day, a term used by workers at a research station in Antarctica to denote bright, sunny weather, a listener offers a possible explanation for this term. It may derive from the idea of the skies...
snowball sample n.— «Researchers pursue what is called a “snowball sample,” seeking out workers who then recruit their friends in a process they liken to a chain letter, or to the “six degrees of separation” theory of connectedness. A...
sausage boom n.— «Workers placing additional sausage boom in creek, on west side of tracks.» —“AR Photo Gallery: Canyon Derailment” Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Spill Prevention and...
whipsaw v.— «For example, Ford plans to close 16 plants by 2008. Whether or not the company keeps a plant open often depends on whether a union local will accept concessions, and the company routinely pits workers at one plant against...