Wobbly lingo

Wobbly lingo is a collection of technical language, jargon, and historic slang used by the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies, for more than a century.

Contents

Origin and usage

Words and phrases in Wobbly lingo may have different meanings in different contexts or in different geographic areas. The "lingo" developed from the specific needs of the organization as well as the experiences of working class people. For several decades, many hobos in the United States were members of, or were sympathetic to, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Because of this, some of the terms describe the life of a hobo such as "riding the rails", living in "jungles", dodging the "bulls". The IWW's efforts to organize all trades allowed the lingo to expand to include terms relating to mining camps, timber work, and farming. Other derivations of Wobbly lingo come from a confluence of Native American languages, immigrant languages, and jargon. These meanings may vary over time.

The word muckamuck in Wobbly lingo refers to someone important and possibly arrogant. Hyas muckamuck from Chinook jargon means the chief or the big boss. In modern blue collar usage, this word is one of many mildly sarcastic slang terms used to refer to bosses and upper management. A variation is the phrase high mucketymuck.

Some words and phrases believed to have originated within Wobbly lingo have gained cultural significance outside of the IWW. For example, in Joe Hill's song "The Preacher and the Slave", the expression pie in the sky has passed into common usage, referring to a "preposterously optimistic goal."[1]

Selected examples

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

See also

References

  1. ^ Hirsch, Jr., E.D. (1988). Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. p. 72. 
  2. ^ Joey Lee Dillard, Toward a social history of American English, published by Walter de Gruyter (Berlin), 1985, page 185
  3. ^ Paul Frederick Brissenden, The I.W.W. A Study of American Syndicalism, Columbia University, 1919, pages 219-220
  4. ^ Philip S. Foner, History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Vol. 4, The Industrial Workers of the World 1905-1917, International Publishers, 1997, page 169
  5. ^ a b Melvyn Dubofsky, We Shall Be All, A History of the Industrial Workers of the World, University of Illinois Press Abridged, 2000, page 85
  6. ^ a b Paul Frederick Brissenden, The I.W.W. A Study of American Syndicalism, Columbia University, 1919, page 77
  7. ^ Joey Lee Dillard, Toward a social history of American English, published by Walter de Gruyter (Berlin), 1985, page 182
  8. ^ The I.W.W.: Its First Seventy Years, 1905-1975, Fred W. Thompson and Patrick Murfin, 1976, page 82.
  9. ^ Melvyn Dubofsky, We Shall Be All, A History of the Industrial Workers of the World, University of Illinois Press Abridged, 2000, page 41
  10. ^ a b Joey Lee Dillard, Toward a social history of American English, published by Walter de Gruyter (Berlin), 1985, page 183
  11. ^ a b Joseph R. Conlin, At the Point of Production, The Local History of the I.W.W., Greenwood Press, 1981, page 11
  12. ^ "(We're not) The International Workers of the World". http://www.iww.org/en/culture/myths/international.shtml. Retrieved July 16, 2006. 
  13. ^ Brissenden 1919, pg. 57
  14. ^ Atkinson, J. Brooks (1928). "The Play". New York Times (Dramatists Play Service) (October 25). ISBN 9780822209829. http://books.google.com/?id=OmWfn2Dx7b0C&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=%22Jerusalem+Slim%22+%22joe+Hill%22. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
  15. ^ Babe, Thomas (1980). Salt Lake City Skyline. Dramatists Play Service. ISBN 9780822209829. http://books.google.com/?id=OmWfn2Dx7b0C&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=%22Jerusalem+Slim%22+%22joe+Hill%22. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
  16. ^ Chronicling America - The Library of Congress
  17. ^ Solidarity Forever, An Oral History of the IWW, Steward Bird, Dan Georgakas, Deborah Shaffer, 1985, page 35.
  18. ^ Robert W. Bruere, The Industrial Workers of the World, An Interpretation, Harper's magazine, Volume 137 Making of America Project Harper & Brothers, 1918
  19. ^ Melvyn Dubofsky, We Shall Be All, A History of the Industrial Workers of the World, University of Illinois Press Abridged, 2000, page 86
  20. ^ William E. Bohn, The Survey: social, charitable, civic : a journal of constructive philanthropy, Volume 28, "The Industrial Workers of the World", Charity Organization Society of the City of New York, 1912
  21. ^ "Chemist Tells of I.W.W. Sabotage" (PDF). New York Times (Dec. 13). 1919. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F07E5DA123BEE32A25757C1A9649D946896D6CF&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  22. ^ Joey Lee Dillard, Toward a social history of American English, published by Walter de Gruyter (Berlin), 1985, pages 184-185
  23. ^ Fred W. Thompson, Patrick Murfin, The IWW: Its First Seventy Years, 1905-1975, 1976, pages 38-40.
  24. ^ Paul Frederick Brissenden, The I.W.W. A Study of American Syndicalism, Columbia University, 1919, page 85-86
  25. ^ Mark Leier, Where the Fraser River Flows: The Industrial Workers of the World in British Columbia. Vancouver: New Star Books, 1990, 35, 54 n 8.
  26. ^ "What is the Origin of the Term Wobbly?". Retrieved July 17, 2006
  27. ^ Verity Burgmann, Revolutionary industrial unionism, 1995, page 256.

Additional references