The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is launching a public appeal to help illuminate the sometimes impenetrable terminology used by different professions, from healthcare workers’ calling difficult patients “gomers” (an acronym for Get Out of My Emergency Room) to what exactly builders are up to when they “dob and dab”.
On Thursday, the dictionary called on doctors, firefighters, builders, shopkeepers, teachers, plumbers, marketers and other workers to send in the words and expressions they use at work. “The OED already includes many terms from all kinds of trades and professions but there are many more that have not yet come to our attention – and that’s why we’re asking for your help,” it said.
“While the majority of us know what a chippie does, understand what it means to hotdesk, and are familiar with terms such as ‘you’re nicked’ or ‘code blue’ there are vast numbers of words and phrases used by people at work that lead to blank looks from outsiders, with slang being especially hard to understand.”
The dictionary admitted that the baffling nature of work-related slang was sometimes necessary. “You’d probably rather not hear your doctor describe someone as a gomer … and your veterinary friend may shy away from explaining DSTO (our sources tell us that it means ‘dog smarter than owner’),” it said. “However, at other times, not understanding the words used in a trade just leads to confusion. Not everyone knows, for instance, that sweating the pipes is plumbing slang for soldering two pipes together.”
The OED already lists a host of work-related terms, including building industry phrase “dob and dab”, which the dictionary defines as “the process of dry lining a wall (or perhaps sticking plasterboard to it)”, to librarians’ “blitz” or “shift”, meaning “to move along/tidy up the books on a shelf”. Publicans, meanwhile, may be heard to say, “behind the stick”, meaning to be working behind the bar. But it is hoping to find and start defining many more.
“When we use words every day at work, it’s difficult to imagine that their meanings might not be quite so obvious to other people,” said OED senior editor Fiona McPherson. “However, with such a vast array of professions and industries, it’s not surprising that certain terms from your own workplace may lead to looks of bemusement from those not in the know. Whether you have baffled others or been baffled, let us know about these words and terms from your working life.”
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