Wobbly lingo is a collection of technical language, jargon

Jargon

Jargon is terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, group, or event. The philosophe Condillac observed in 1782 that "Every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas." As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment he...

, and historic slang

Slang

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

 used by the Industrial Workers of the World

Industrial Workers of the World

The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...

, known as the Wobblies, for more than a century.

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

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

 people. For several decades, many hobo

Hobo

A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...

s in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 were members of, or were sympathetic to, the Industrial Workers of the World

Industrial Workers of the World

The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...

 (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

Lumberjack

A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...

, and farming. Other derivations of Wobbly lingo come from a confluence of Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 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

Chinook Jargon

Chinook Jargon originated as a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest, and spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then British Columbia and as far as Alaska, sometimes taking on characteristics of a creole language...

 means the chief or the big boss. In modern blue collar

Blue collar

Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...

 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

Joe Hill

Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle , and also known as Joseph Hillström was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World...

 song "The Preacher and the Slave

The Preacher and the Slave

"The Preacher and the Slave" is a song written by Joe Hill in 1911. It was written as a parody of the hymn "In the Sweet Bye and Bye". The Industrial Workers of the World concentrated much of its labor trying to organize migrant workers in lumber and construction camps...

", the expression pie in the sky has passed into common usage, referring to a "preposterously optimistic goal."

A

• Accommodation : Local freight train
• AFL : American Federation of Labor
  American Federation of Labor
  The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
  
  , frequently referred to by Wobblies as the American Separation of Labor
• Anchor : A pick
• Angel food : Mission preaching about the Bread of Life
• Assessment : In the IWW, a voluntary or mandatory contribution (depending on the situation) in addition to union dues allocated for specific purposes, such as a General Defense Committee action, a strike fund, or to help out a particular group of workers.
• AWO (Agricultural Workers Organization
  Agricultural Workers Organization
  The Agricultural Workers Organization , an organization of farm workers throughout the United States and Canada, was formed on April 15, 1915 in Kansas City. It was supported by, and a subsidiary organization of, the Industrial Workers of the World...
  
  ) : The Agricultural Workers Industrial Union 400 (now IU 110) of the IWW which organized itinerant harvest workers between 1914-30. The AWO developed the roving delegate system, still used today by the IWW.
• Axle swinging : Riding under a railroad car

B

• Balloon : Bedroll, bindle
• Banjo : A short-handled shovel, or a type of frying pan
• Barnacle : A fellow who sticks to one job a year or more; probably named for the stubborn tenacity of barnacle
  Barnacle
  A barnacle is a type of arthropod belonging to infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. They are sessile suspension feeders, and have...
  
  s which must be scraped from the exterior surface of ocean-going vessels
• Battleship : A high-sided steel coal car usually with a hopper or dump bottom
• Battleship, building the : Raising the noise level to intolerable levels, by all means necessary including singing, pounding on bars, or slamming beds, by a group of Wobblies who have been imprisoned during a free speech fight
  Free speech fights
  Free speech fights are conflicts over the right to speak freely, particularly involving the Industrial Workers of the World efforts in the early twentieth century to organize workers and publicly speak about labor issues...
  
  
• Beanmaster : Cook
• Big O : A train conductor
• Big Ole : A worker who tries to impress the boss with his ability or strength
• Big Smoke, the : Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
  
  
• Bindle
  Bindle
  Bindle is a term used to describe the bag, sack, or carrying device stereotypically used by the commonly American sub-culture of hobos. The person carrying a bindle was called a bindlestiff, combining bindle with the Average Joe sense of stiff....
  
   : Bedroll in which a hobo wrapped his possessions
• Black cat : See Sab cat
• Blind pig : Illegal bar during prohibition. Blind pigs differed from speakeasys (below) in that only liquor was offered - no music or dancing.
• Bloke : A guy
• Blue streak : Very fast
• 'Bo : Hobo
• Boil up : To cook one's clothes, to eliminate "crums" (lice and their eggs).
• Boomer : Construction worker who travels to the job, a transient railroad worker, or a seasonal or migratory worker
• Booming : Going from one job to another
• Branch : A chartered group of IWW members in the same job site, city, or region organized around a common workplace, industry, or regional grouping.
• Bridal chamber : A mining term meaning the miner's workplace. May also mean a flop house where the guests lie on the floor
• Braky : A brakeman
• Bread and Milk Route : Boston & Maine Railroad
• Broken & Maimed : Boston & Maine Railroad
• Bucko mate : Bully
• Bull : Policeman, or a railroad enforcer
• Bullpen : A makeshift pen designed to hold class war prisoners.
• Bummery : A pejorative term used by Daniel De León
  Daniel De Leon
  Daniel DeLeon was an American socialist newspaper editor, politician, Marxist theoretician, and trade union organizer. He is regarded as the forefather of the idea of revolutionary industrial unionism and was the leading figure in the Socialist Labor Party of America from 1890 until the time of...
  
   that referred to the Direct Action faction of the IWW that led to the 1908 split; this expression was said to result from IWW members singing the song, "Hallelujah, I'm A Bum". Also used to refer to IWW members with itinerant employment, such as lumber workers and agricultural workers. Also called "110 Cats".
• Bum on the plush : The idle rich. See Plush, on the
• Bundle tosser : Harvest hand who pitches bundles
• Burg : Town

C

• Cacklers : White collar workers
• Calaboose : Jail
• California blankets : Newspapers used for blankets while sleeping
• Can : Jail
• Candy job : A pleasant or "sweet" job
• Canned Meat & Stale Punk : Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
  Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
  The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...
  
  
• Cannon ball : A fast train
• Captain : Hobo salutation of the head man or big shot
• Card man : A union man or a hobo with a red I. W. W. card
• Car knocker : A railroad yard man who works assembling trains
• The Carry All : Chicago & Alton RR
  Alton Railroad
  The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 and was controlled until 1942 when the Alton was...
  
  
• Carry the banner : To walk the street all night for want of shelter
• Cat : Worker with a particular occupation; a worker well fitted in with some occupational subculture, such as "hep cat"; a worker who follows a specific occupation, such as "straw cat" for harvest hand. Or, sabotage cat.
• Cat wagon : Brothel on wheels that might follow the harvest crews
• Cattle stiff : A cowboy
• Centralists : During the 1920s split, one of the factions headed by Tom Doyle and Joe Fisher. They wanted a strong central organization with control over the IWW's industrial unions. Also referred to as the "Four Treyers".
• Charter : A document issued by the GEB or a GOC that officially recognizes a subordinate body of the IWW, such as a branch or district council.
• Checkerboard crew : Mixed crew of white and black workers
• Chinwhisker : A farmer
• Christ killing : To speak from the soap box giving the economic argument
• Citizens of industry : A term used by diehard Wobblies as a description of themselves, having come to the conclusion that national citizenship offered little to wage slaves
• Class War : The struggle between the employing class (always looking to lower the costs of labor at workers' expense) and the working class (seeking to retain all that it produces).
• Class War Prisoner : Anyone jailed for their class conscious views or acts.
• Clover kicker : Farmer
• Coal passer : Fireman
• Coffee an' : Coffee and a doughnut
• Coffin society : see coffin benefits
• Coffin benefits : Trade union welfare systems that Wobblies sometimes disparaged as a dubious contribution from business unionism. "Gomperite" business unions that emphasized sickness and death benefits were referred to as "coffin societies".
• Coldcock : To knock someone down
• Cold, Hungry & Damp : Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway
• Come to Jesus : A "come-to-Jesus manner" means to feign piety
• Cooperative Commonwealth : The ideal of a new social order which recognizes no national, occupational, or racial distinctions and represents the united economic force and social will of all workers in the world. Similar concepts include the Workers Commonwealth, and the Industrial Commonwealth
• Coupon clipper : A person of leisure with investment income. At one time, coupon booklets were given to investors, and the coupons were clipped out and mailed in to collect that period's income.
• Cousin Jack : Generally refers to a Cornish miner, but, like the term Cockney
  Cockney
  The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
  
  , may be applied to any Englishman
• Crooked arm : Signal from the boss that he wants more speed
• Crums : Lice
• Crummy : To be lousy, to have lice. Also refers to the caboose on a train
• Crum up : Same as boil up
• CST (Central Secretary-Treasurer) : The chief administrative officer of the IWW's General Defense Committee. The CST is elected annually to a one year term by a democratic vote of the entire IWW membership.
• Cushions, Riding the : Riding de luxe in a passenger train. Also see on the plush

D

• Dehorn : Denatured alcohol or bootleg whiskey of inferior quality; anything that makes a worker depart from proper class-conscious activity.
• Dehorn squad : Wobbly committee that would close up bars, speakeasies, and brothels during an IWW strike (usually during the Prohibition Era).
• Delegate : An IWW member empowered to collect dues from other members, sign up new IWW members, and represent the group of IWW members they represent at district councils and other assemblies of the IWW. Delegates are democratically elected by shops and branches; they serve one years terms.
• Department : An international coordinating body of closely related Industrial Unions, such as the Department of General Construction 300, which includes the General Construction Workers Industrial Union 310, the Ship Builders Industrial Union 320, and the Building Construction Workers Industrial Union 330. There are six such departments outlined by the IWW Constitution.
• Dingoes : Hoboes who refuse to work even though they claim to be looking for a job. "Tramp" is similar - a hobo who would not work.
• Direct action : Actions taken by workers for themselves, as opposed to actions taken in their name by legislative or other representatives. Economic action, as opposed to political action
• Doughhead : A baker
• Doughnut philosopher : A fellow who is satisfied with the price of a coffee and feed. He does not object to the doughnut hole getting larger because it will take more dough to go around it. He is the original breadline optimist
• Dual carder : Having a union card in two different unions. See dual unionism
  Dual unionism
  Dual unionism is the development of a union or political organization parallel to and within an existing labor union. In some cases, the term may refer to the situation where two unions claim the right to organize the same workers....
  
  
• Duds : Clothes
• Dyno or dino : A rock man who handles dynamite, sometimes called a "powder monkey".

E

• Eagle eye : Locomotive engineer
• Economic argument : Soap-box talk about economics. Generally opposed to the religious argument called angel food
• E-P (Emergency Program) : A split from the IWW in 1924, led by James Rowan of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union
  Lumber Workers Industrial Union
  Between 1915 and 1917, the Agricultural Workers Organization of the Industrial Workers of the World organized hundreds of thousands of migratory farm workers throughout the midwest and western United States...
  
   (LWIU). The E-Pers believed that the administration of the IWW was too strongly emphasizing "Political Action" as opposed to Organizing on the Job. The E-P claimed to oppose "centralism" in favor of "decentralism", but the E-P sought to centralize power within individual Industrial Unions.
• EP'er : Someone from the decentralist EP faction during the 1920s
• Extra gang : A crew that works on the railroad track

F

• Fast Rattler: an express train
• Fellow Worker (FW) : How IWW members traditionally address each other (e.g. FW Lucy Parsons, or FW Ben Fletcher). Although the term is actually gender neutral, recently some members have adopted the unofficial term "Sister Worker" to refer to women members of the IWW. Some women prefer the term, but others do not.
• Fielder : A brakeman
• Fink : A strike breaker; an informer; possibly derived from "Pinkertons
  Pinkerton National Detective Agency
  The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, is a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired...
  
  ", a private detective agency frequently used by employers to break strikes. Or from the German 'fink' (finch) as in "a little bird told me"
• Fix the Job : Direct Action on the job; quickie strikes, passive resistance, deliberate bungling aimed to win better working conditions.
• Flipping a rattler : Boarding a moving box-car
• Flop : A place to sleep.
• Fly-away : A deserter from the army or navy
• Footloose : A worker who is not tied down by a job is said to be footloose
• Foul Water & Dirty Cars : Fort Worth & Denver City RR
  Fort Worth and Denver Railway
  The Fort Worth and Denver Railway , nicknamed "the Denver Road," was a class I American railroad company that operated in the northern part of Texas from 1881 to 1982, and had a profound influence on the early settlement and economic development of the region....
  
  
• 4-3 (Four-Trey) : The loyalist faction from the 1924 split; so named because its office was located at 3333 West Belmont in Chicago, IL.
• Free speech fights
  Free speech fights
  Free speech fights are conflicts over the right to speak freely, particularly involving the Industrial Workers of the World efforts in the early twentieth century to organize workers and publicly speak about labor issues...
  
   : When the cops won't let you speak, call all footloose rebels to town.
• Frogskin : Dollar bill

G

• Galoot : A fellow who doesn't fit in
• Gandy dancer
  Gandy dancer
  Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines....
  
   : Someone who lays, or especially, maintains, railroad track
• GDC (General Defense Committee) : An organization composed of IWW members and supporters whose function is to organize for the defense of workers indicted in the process of union organizing or other revolutionary activity. The GDC can be organized into locals and regional federations. The GDC is the only official committee that sympathetic employers may join (as non-IWW members).
• GDC Local : A Local branch of the General Defense Committee.
• GEB (General Executive Board) : The chief coordinating body of the Industrial Workers of the World, consisting of seven members elected to one year terms annually by a democratic vote of the entire IWW membership. The GEB's duties are outlined by Article III, Section 5A of the IWW Constitution.
• General Assembly (GA) : An annual assembly, held (US) Labor Day Weekend, where members, delegates and officers of the union meet to discuss union business, prepare for the annual election and referendum, and set union policy. The decisions of the General Assembly are subject to review by the entire IWW membership.
• Glom the guts of a rattler : Hop a freight
• GMB (General Membership Branch) : A chartered body of IWW members located in a local geographic area (usually a city or metropolitan area) composed of workers from many different industries. A GMB is a temporary structure designed to aid in the formation of Industrial Union Branches.
• GOB (General Organization Bulletin) : A (mostly) monthly, printed discussion bulletin issued to all members in good standing (except those who specifically ask not to receive it). The GOB includes the GST's report, the GEB report, Delegates reports, and branch reports. Sometimes the GOB includes correspondence from individual members as well.
• GOC (General Organizing Committee) : The chief coordinating body of an Industrial Union consisting of five members elected annually to a one-year term by a democratic vote of the membership of that Industrial Union.
• Gomperite : From Samuel Gompers
  Samuel Gompers
  Samuel Gompers was an English-born American cigar maker who became a labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor , and served as that organization's president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924...
  
  , disparaging term for AFL style business unionism, or advocates thereof.
• Goon : A thug
• Graveyard shift : Night work
• Greasy spoon
  Greasy spoon
  Greasy spoon is a colloquial or slang term originating in the United States to mean a small, especially cheap, archetypal working class restaurant or diner. The term is now used in many English speaking countries to mean the same thing...
  
   : A cheap cafe, restaurant, or truck stop
• GRU (General Recruiting Union) : A chartered body consisting of members in multiple industries with fewer members in each industry than the number needed to form an IUB for each industry. Also called a Mixed Local.
• GST (General Secretary-Treasurer) : The chief administrative officer of the IWW. The GST is elected annually to a one year term by a democratic vote of the entire IWW membership. The GST is the only paid officer of the IWW.
• Gunnells or guts : The rods or trucks of the train where hobos ride (see rods)
• Gunsel : A thug with a gun; the same term is used in the gangland world.
• Gyppo : Any piece-work system; a job where the worker is paid by the volume they produce, rather than by their time. A sub-contractor with poor equipment

H

• Hall Cat : An IWW Member who frequents IWW union halls, sometimes refers to a branch secretary-treasurer.
• Hasher : Cook
• Hayrick : A hay stack
• Haywire : When everything is balled up
• Highball : Very fast, as in a fast train. See "Cannonball"
• Highjack : To rob, or hold up
• Hit the ball : To speed up on the job
• Hit the grit : To be forced off a fast moving train
• Hobo
  Hobo
  A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
  
   : A term of unknown origin that refers to an itinerant worker who "rides the rails" (stowing away on freight trains unknown to the railroads) in search of work. Not to be confused with "bums", "tramps" or "yeggs" who simply ride the rails looking for an easy mark. Many Hoboes were IWW members between 1905-1920s.
• Hobo Jungle : A well organized hobo encampment, maintained collectively by those that live there. Hobo Jungles frequently offered a place for the hobo to lay his or her bindle, meals (cobbled together from food contributed by residents of the encampment), information about work, and music & song (provided by the hoboes themselves). Jungles were commonly frequented by IWW members between 1905 - 1920s.
• Hog, on the : Broken down, broke, out of money. Contrast with eating high on the hog, an American phrase suggesting affluent, perhaps eating the better cuts
• Hogger : A locomotive engineer.
• Home Guard : IWW members with relatively stable employment and places of residence (as opposed to the bummery), such as the Lawrence textile workers.
• Honey dipping : Working as a shovel stiff in a sewer
• Hoosegow : Jail
• Hoosier : A farmer, someone from the country, someone who is incompetent
• Hoosier up : To play dumb, or pretend innocence
• House dog : A fellow who hunts jobs from the housewife, such as beating carpets, etc.
• Hot : A square meal. Room and board may be referred to as "three hots and a cot". Also, a fugitive hobo.

I

• IDC (Industrial District Council) : A chartered regional coordinating body consisting of a council of delegates elected from the IUBs, Job Branches, IOCs, and GRUs in the same city or region.
• Industrial Union (IU) : All the workers in the same industry shall belong to the same Industrial Union within the IWW. A chartered Industrial Union will consist of all Industrial Union Branches, shops within that IU, and individual members within that IU. That IU shall elect a GOC according to the principles they charter. The term also refers to the name and number assigned to each individual member. The numbers have no particular meaning other than to distinguish each separate IU.
• Industrial unionism
  Industrial unionism
  Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union—regardless of skill or trade—thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations...
  
   : A union organizing philosophy in which all workers in an industry join the same union. The IWW takes this concept to its logical conclusion, such that all workers join One Big Union and support each other's struggles.
• Industrial Worker
  Industrial Worker
  The Industrial Worker, "the voice of revolutionary industrial unionism," is the newspaper of the Industrial Workers of the World . It is currently released ten times a year, printed and edited by union labor, and is frequently distributed at radical bookstores, demonstrations, strikes and labor...
  
   (IW) : The official newspaper of the IWW, it is published monthly and available to all members in good standing. It is also available to non-members by subscription. Its editor is elected biannually to a two-year term by a democratic vote of the entire IWW membership.
• International Workers of the World : The IWW has often been mistakenly called "International Workers of the World". Historian Conlin attributes the term in part to historians of the 1940s and later who were guilty of sloppy scholarship — "The historians were not only failing to read Brissenden, they were not taking a very good look at his title page." The conservative media pundit Rush Limbaugh
  Rush Limbaugh
  Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
  
   blamed the anti-WTO demonstrations
  WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity
  Protest activity surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations, occurred on November 30, 1999 , when the World Trade Organization convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington,...
  
   in Seattle in 1999 on the "International Workers of the World". In the index
  Index (publishing)
  An index is a list of words or phrases and associated pointers to where useful material relating to that heading can be found in a document...
  
  es of the books Timber Wars by Judi Bari
  Judi Bari
  Judi Bari was an American environmentalist and labor leader, a feminist, and the principal organizer of Earth First! campaigns against logging in the ancient redwood forests of Northern California in the 1980s and '90...
  
   and Been and Done by Gipsy Moon, the IWW was incorrectly listed under this name, although they were correctly named in the text. Fred Chase (GST of the IWW, Jan 1995 - Dec 1999) once joked that the Industrial Workers of the World should ask the International Workers of the World to join up, since they're such a large and influential organization. This mistake happens commonly, although the word International would obviously be redundant
  Redundancy (language)
  In linguistics, redundancy is the construction of a phrase that presents some idea using more information, often via multiple means, than is necessary for one to be able understand the idea....
  
   because of the words of the World.
• IOC (Industrial Organizing Committee) : A standing committee of members of a GMB grouped by Industrial Union working to build Job Branches and IUBs.
• IUB (Industrial Union Branch) : A chartered body of IWW members located in a local geographic area ( usually a city or metropolitan area) composed of workers from the same industry.
• IWW : Stands for Industrial Workers of the World of course, but has led to numerous other interpretations of the name, such as "I Won't Work", "I Want Whiskey", "International Wonder Workers", and "Irresponsible Wholesale Wreckers". On August 17, 1917, the Arizona
  Arizona
  Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
  
  n Senator Henry F. Ashurst
  Henry F. Ashurst
  Henry Fountain Ashurst was an American Democratic politician and one of the first two Senators from Arizona. Largely self-educated, he served as a district attorney and member of the Arizona Territorial legislature before fulfilling his childhood ambition of joining the United States Senate...
  
   even declared that "I.W.W. means simply, solely and only, Imperial Wilhelm's Warriors", falsely alleging a link between the IWW and German
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
   emperor Wilhelm II
  William II, German Emperor
  Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe...
  
  .

J

• Java : Coffee
• Jawbone : Credit. To buy in the company store against one's pay
• Jerries : Men who work on the section gang, or Jerry Gang. They do section maintenance work while gandy dancer
  Gandy dancer
  Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines....
  
  s work on contract jobs
• Jerusalem Slim : Jesus, a secular folk hero. The name was adopted by Wobblies who believed that Jesus would have been an IWW member had he lived in their time, based on interpretation of New Testament Scripture that indicates that Jesus was likely a radical in his time, much like the Wobblies of today.
• Jim Hill : Railroad tycoon James J. Hill
  James J. Hill
  James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
  
  
• Jim Hill's goat : In North America, the Great Northern Railway which ran from St. Paul to Seattle. Also called the Big "G", or the High Line. The company logo was originally a silhoutte of a mountain goat, later an anthropomorphic goat displaying the company name.
• Job Branch : A chartered body of five or more members in the same workplace (and by extension, the same IU) where union conditions do not prevail, working to build majority union representation.
• Job Shop : A chartered body of IWW members in the same workplace (and by extension the same IU) where union conditions prevail and where majority union representation has been established.
• John Family : A term sometimes applied to the farmers
• Jungle : Hobo camp along a road or a railroad line

K

• Kangaroo court : Mock court held in jail for the purpose of forcing new prisoners to divide their money
• Kazoo : Someone's butt
• Kicks : Shoes. Also called slides

L

• Labor skate : A union official who sees union office as a means to privilege and power
• Little Red Songbook
  Little Red Songbook
  thumb|180px|right|The Little Red SongbookSince the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the IWW, songs have played a big part in spreading the message of the One Big Union...
  
   (LRS) : A collection of labor songs written by IWW members "to fan the flames of discontent", published as a pocket size book with a red cover. There are at least 36 editions of the LRS.
• Lizzie, tin : A Model T or a cheap auto

M

• Main Drag : The primary street in a town; may or may not also be the "main stem", (below).
• Main stem : The chief hobo street in town
• Mick : An Irishman
• Milk and Honey route : Railroads through Mormon territory
• Mister Block : A scissorbill. The term refers to the cartoons penned by Ernest Riebe
  Mr. Block
  Mr. Block is a United States comic strip character commemorated in a song written by Joe Hill.Mr. Block, who has no first name, was created November 7th, 1912 by Ernest Riebe, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World . Block appeared that day in the Spokane newspaper Industrial Worker,...
  
   about a blockheaded worker who, in spite of all his misfortunes, blindly sides with the employing class. He believes that the police always mean well, and that sharks are good fellows. Joe Hill
  Joe Hill
  Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle , and also known as Joseph Hillström was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World...
  
   popularized the cartoon in his song "Mr Block".
• MTW (Marine Transport Workers) : The Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union 510 of the IWW, active on the seas, especially on the west coast of North America. The MTW led to the formation of the Sailors Union of the Pacific (SUP) of the AFL, and participated in the 1934 General Strike of west coast Longshoremen. The MTW also controlled the Philadelphia waterfront in the 1920s and 1930s. MTW Local 8 of Philadelphia was led by Ben Fletcher. Also sometimes referred to as "510 Cats".
• Muckamuck, muckymuck, or mucketymuck : Someone important, and probably arrogant
• Mucker : A mine worker who shovels out the ore or the debris
• Muck stick : A long-handled shovel
• Mug : Someone's face

O

• OBU (One Big Union
  One Big Union
  The One Big Union is a concept which emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries amongst working class trade unionists.Unions initially organised as craft or trade unions. Workers were organized by their skill: carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, each into their respective unions. ...
  
  ) : Another name for the IWW, based on the notion that one big union of all the workers can overthrow or abolish the employing class and the wage system. Also a name for a short-lived Canadian union that formed in the 1930s based on the IWW, but more sympathetic to the Communist Party and Stalinism.
• Octopus : The Southern Pacific Railroad
  Southern Pacific Railroad
  The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
  
  
• Original Ham and Egg Route : Oberlin, Hampton and Eastern RR
• Overalls Brigade : At the 1908 convention a group of twenty migrant workers styling themselves as the "overalls brigade" played a crucial role in the debate which established direct action as the guiding principle of the IWW. The overalls brigade was led by popular organizer James H. Walsh, who would later play a key role in the IWW's free speech fights
  Free speech fights
  Free speech fights are conflicts over the right to speak freely, particularly involving the Industrial Workers of the World efforts in the early twentieth century to organize workers and publicly speak about labor issues...
  
  

P

• Paul Bunyan : A chronic but interesting liar
• Pay streak : A job that pays well
• Pea soup : A French Canadian, often a lumberjack; the name comes from a traditional dish of this group.
• Peckerwood : A poor white person from the country, often used disparagingly, especially in the South
• Pendejo [Pen-DAY-hoe] : A fool or a coward
• Pennsylvania feathers : Soft coal or coke
• Piecard : A union official that identifies more with the boss than with the workers, or who is "on the take". From the hobo definition, one who hangs around and lives on a remittance man or some other person with money
• Pie in the sky : A reward in heaven for working hard on earth while hungry. Used in the song The Preacher and the Slave
  The Preacher and the Slave
  "The Preacher and the Slave" is a song written by Joe Hill in 1911. It was written as a parody of the hymn "In the Sweet Bye and Bye". The Industrial Workers of the World concentrated much of its labor trying to organize migrant workers in lumber and construction camps...
  
   by Joe Hill
  Joe Hill
  Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle , and also known as Joseph Hillström was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World...
  
  .
• Play the Hoosier : Dissatisfied workers on the job who intentionally fail to work efficiently are "playing the Hoosier"
• Plough jockey : A farmer
• Plug-ugly : A thug or a goon
• Plush, on the : The rich man rides on the plush in the train, possibly in a private car. Described in the Utah Phillips
  Utah Phillips
  Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips was a labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet and the "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest". He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist...
  
   song/poem Bum on the Rods
  The Past Didn't Go Anywhere
  The Past Didn't Go Anywhere is an album by American folksinger Utah Phillips and American singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco. It was released October 15, 1996, on Ani DiFranco's label, Righteous Babe Records....
  
  , included on the album/CD "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere." The poem is originally entitled The Two Bums, from George Milburn's book, The Hobo's Hornbook.
• Plutes : Bosses or plutocrats
• Poke : A leather wallet
• Pork chop unionism : A Wobbly epithet for business unionism
• Prole : A wage worker, a "proletarian."
• Propaganda of the deed : An anarchist expression which helped to inspire the concept of direct action
• Pure and simpler : Someone who accepts the "pure and simple unionism" of the American Federation of Labor
  American Federation of Labor
  The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
  
  . Among revolutionary industrial unionists, a "pure and simpler" was someone, perhaps a conservative socialist, whose view could not easily be distinguished from that of AFL style unionists
• Pusher : The straw boss. One in charge of the job

R

• Rattler : A freight train
• Rebel : A class-conscious worker who wishes to end the capitalist system.
• The Rebel Girl : Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
  Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
  Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World . Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a visible proponent of women's rights, birth control, and women's suffrage...
  
  ; also the title of a song by Joe Hill.
• Red : A revolutionary socialist, anarchist, or IWW member. Refers to the red flags and banners commonly used by radicals symbolizing workers control and revolution. After the 1930s, the term was specifically used to refer to leftists in General, but especially to members of the Communist Party and its supporters.

• Red card : Membership card for IWW members
• Red IWW : The IWW, based in Chicago (until the 1990s) as opposed to the short-lived rival IWW established by Daniel DeLeon in 1908. See Yellow IWW.
• Red Socialists : Refers to the left wing of the US based Socialist Party. The Reds were sympathetic to the IWW, direct action, and syndicalism.
• Riding the Rails; Riding the Rods : Hoboing.
• Rigging : A Delegate's supplies, including membership cards, dues stamps, IWW Constitutions, and Newspapers. Used to collect dues and sign up new members on the job.
• ROC (Regional Organizing Committee) : A body of IWW members in a specific region, especially a country dedicated to maintaining communication and administering union affairs, particularly where the local currency is worth significantly less (or more) than the US or Canadian dollar.
• Rockpile : A jail
• Rods : Drawrods beneath a freight train, one place where hobos used to ride. Riding the rods was extremely dangerous, and most modern train cars no longer have rods underneath.
• Rotgut : Cheap liquor
• Roustabout : An unskilled laborer. Also used as a carnival term
• Rube : A country bumpkin

S

• Sab cat : Symbol of the IWW, and sometimes a symbol for "sabotage" (i.e. inefficiency at the point of production by disgruntled workers), usually represented by a black cat
  Black cat
  A black cat is a feline with black fur. It is not a particular breed of cat and may be mixed or of a specific breed. The Bombay, known for its sleek black fur, is an example of a black cat. The all-black pigmentation is equally prevalent in both male and female cats...
  
   with bared teeth. Also called "sab kitty", "sabo-tabby", or "the cat".
• Sabotage
  Sabotage
  Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
  
   : The withdrawal of efficiency. Calling a strike, engaging in a slowdown, or somehow gumming up the works. From a French phrase meaning to toss a wooden shoe (a sabot) into the machinery to slow things down.
• The Saint : Refers to Vincent St. John
• Sallies : Salvation Army hotels and industrial workshops
• Scab : A strike breaker
• Scissorbill : A worker who identifies with the boss, or who lacks class consciousness; hobo who thinks he can be President.
• Scratch : Secretary; alternately, money or other assets
• Sea stiff : A sailor
• Secretary-Treasurer : The chief administrative officer of a branch or district council, elected by a democratic vote of the appropriate body's membership
• Sewer hogs : Ditch diggers.
• Shack : The brakeman on a train. Often the fellow that hobos had to avoid.
• Shanty man : Same as gyppo contractor
• Shark : An employment agent who "sells" jobs for a fee
• Short Stake : Worker apt to quit when they have earned a small sum
• Shuffler : A jobless worker
• Shyster : A lawyer. Spoken in a non-pejorative fashion of labor attorneys
• Side Door Pullman
  Pullman (car or coach)
  In the United States, Pullman was used to refer to railroad sleeping cars which were built and operated on most U.S. railroads by the Pullman Company from 1867 to December 31, 1968....
  
   : A hobo term for a Boxcar
  Boxcar
  A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...
  
  
• Silent agitator
  Silent agitators
  Many organizations have used stickers to publicize their philosophy or cause. The Industrial Workers of the World , which during its colorful history has pioneered a variety of creative tactics, calls their stickers silent agitators, or silent organizers...
  
   : A sticker, or a mini-poster, used to propagandize. Sometimes called a silent organizer
• Single O : Working alone by preference
• Singlet : A man's jersey or undershirt
• Sinker : A doughnut
• Sizzler : A cook; alternately, a stove
• Skid road
  Skid row
  A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population. The term originally referred literally to a path along which working men skidded logs. Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest...
  
   : Area of town where migrants gather, from the log roads in timber country. Also called skid row
• Skinner : One who drives mules, especially on construction jobs
• Skipper : The conductor
• Sky pilot : A highbrow preacher, one who expresses a boss point of view, that workers shouldn't complain—just be patient and you'll get "pie in the sky when you die." The term carried over to the US Military as a name for the company chaplain
• Slave market : An employment agency, particularly in which there are high fees assessed for workers to get a job
• SLP (Socialist Labor Party
  Socialist Labor Party of America
  The Socialist Labor Party of America , established in 1876 as the Workingmen's Party, is the oldest socialist political party in the United States and the second oldest socialist party in the world. Originally known as the Workingmen's Party of America, the party changed its name in 1877 and has...
  
  ) : Founded as the Socialistic Labor Party in 1878. Played a founding role in the IWW under its leader, Daniel DeLeon. The SLP was a political party that emphasized political action rather than direct action (organizing at the point of production.) The SLP separated from the IWW in 1908 and set up a short-lived, rival union called the Yellow IWW. This SLP IWW "changed its name to Workers' International Industrial Union in 1915."
• Slum : Food
• Smilo joint : A tavern that sold bootleg liquor
• Snake : Hobo and railroad term for switchman. A snake is more friendly than a shack to the hobos
• Snipe : (Noun) A section hand. (Verb) To get cigarette or cigar butts from easy sources. ("I sniped a nice butt from that ashtray")
• Speakeasy : An illegal bar during Prohibition days, frequently offering music, food and dancing besides.
• Spittoon philosopher : A hanger-on about the gin mill or along the curbstone
• Split : At the 1924 convention, two factions appeared in the IWW. They each claimed to be the real IWW. In some cities there were two IWW halls, and Job Delegates for each union had their own cards to issue.
• Stake : A sum of money intended to last until the next job.
• Stamps : Dues stamps for the IWW, pasted into a Wobbly's red card, or dues book to show that the member is paid up
• Stamp up : To pay dues, or to collect dues from an IWW member
• Starvation Army: The Salvation Army
  Salvation Army
  The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
  
  , as referred to in the song The Preacher and the Slave
  The Preacher and the Slave
  "The Preacher and the Slave" is a song written by Joe Hill in 1911. It was written as a parody of the hymn "In the Sweet Bye and Bye". The Industrial Workers of the World concentrated much of its labor trying to organize migrant workers in lumber and construction camps...
  
  
• Stew builder : A camp cook
• Stiff : A worker. For example, harvest stiffs, bridge stiffs, hospital stiffs
• Stoolie : An informer (stool pigeon)
• Stump Rancher : Someone who settles on logged off land and who usually continues to work, at least part time, for wages.
• Swamper : Fellow who cleans out the bar-room
• Sweat board : Concrete mixing by hand

T

• Taking the whiskers off : Harvesting
• Tallow pot : The fireman on the train
• Tie pass : Bogus permit from the railroad president allowing one to walk the railroad ties
• Timber Beast : Lumberjack. Sometimes also called a Timber Wolf
• Tinhorn : A smalltime gambler
• Tramps : Migrating non-working vagrants
• Twist a dream : Roll a cigarette

U

• Union scab : One who continues at work at his particular trade when those of an allied trade in the same industry are on strike, often because his craft has a contract with the employer

W

• Walking Delegate : A union organizer who moves from job to job.
• WFM (Western Federation of Miners
  Western Federation of Miners
  The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
  
  ) : One of the original unions that founded the IWW. Founding Members William "Big Bill" Haywood and Vincent Saint John were also members of the WFM.
• Wobbly (Sometimes shortened to "Wob") : A nickname of unknown origin for a member of the Industrial Workers of the World. Many believe "wobbly" refers to a tool known as a "wobble saw." One often repeated anecdote has it that a sympathetic Chinese restaurant owner in Vancouver would extend credit to IWW members and, unable to pronounce the "W", would ask if they were a member of the "I Wobble Wobble." Another explanation is that the term was first used pejoratively by San Francisco Socialists around 1913 and adopted by IWWs as a badge of honor. In any case, the nickname has existed since the union's early days and is still used today.
• Wood butcher : A carpenter or a hobo who can do general repair jobs
• Woolies : Take a job as sheep herder

Y

• Yard master : Railroad employee who supervises the yard activity
• Yeggs : Crooks
• Yellow IWW : A rival version of the IWW established in 1908, based in Detroit by Daniel DeLeon, after he split from the IWW. The Yellow IWW emphasized political action as opposed to direct action at the point of production. The Yellow IWW was affiliated with the Socialist Labor Party (SLP). The Yellow IWW "renamed itself the Workers' International Industrial Union
  Workers' International Industrial Union
  The Workers' International Industrial Union was a Revolutionary Industrial Union active in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia...
  
   (WIIU) in 1915".
• Yellow Socialists : Refers to the right wing and centrists of the US based Socialist Party. The Yellows were generally hostile to the IWW (favoring the craft unionism of the AFL, advocating reform instead of revolution among unionists), direct action, and syndicalism.

See also

• The use of slang
  Slang
  Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
  
   is a means of recognizing members of the same group, and to differentiate that group from society at large, while the use of jargon
  Jargon
  Jargon is terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, group, or event. The philosophe Condillac observed in 1782 that "Every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas." As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment he...
  
   relates to a specific activity, profession, or group.
• Slang terms are frequently particular to a certain subculture
  Subculture
  In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
  
  .
• Chinook jargon
  Chinook Jargon
  Chinook Jargon originated as a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest, and spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then British Columbia and as far as Alaska, sometimes taking on characteristics of a creole language...
  
  , especially for northwest timber country usage.

Additional references

• Nelson, Eugene; Break Their Haughty Power: Joe Murphy in the Heyday of the Wobblies, glossary pages 12i-15i.
• Official IWW Terminology used with permission and retrieved from Industrial Workers of the World website, February 2007