Fang Doctoring
18 July, 2011
Nosing the dictionary for fresh word stories (we head back to the studio for a new block of Letters and Numbers in August), I came across the phrase, bait layer. Must be a fox trapper, I thought. A rabbit poisoner? Nuh-uh. This is Australian idiom, after all. A bait layer, in defence force slang, is the cook. Inspiring me to list all the other slang terms for careers, recruiting those that already exist, and inventing those that don’t.
Care to extend my early roll-call in progress?
chippie (carpenter)
sparkie (electrician)
fang doctor (dentist)
bean counter (accountant)
gazinter (maths teacher)
shrink (psychiatrist)
sawbones (surgeon)
quack (GP)
sin shifter, sky pilot (priest)
hack (journo)
flack (PR agent)
ambo (ambulance officer)
desk jockey, paper shuffler (office worker)
underwater panel beater (dish pig)
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