What does gandy dancer mean?
Definitions for gandy dancer
ˈgæn digandy dancer
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word gandy dancer.
Princeton's WordNet
gandy dancernoun
a laborer in a railroad maintenance gang
Wiktionary
gandy dancernoun
A railway laborer, especially a member of a crew which carries rails and affixes them to ties.
ChatGPT
gandy dancer
A gandy dancer is a slang term used in the United States to refer to a worker who maintains railway tracks. The term originated in the early days of railroading when workers used a tool called a "gandy" to align the tracks. The "dancer" part of the term comes from the rhythmic, dance-like movements the workers made while using these tools.
Wikidata
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. The British equivalent of the term gandy dancer is "navvy" from "navigator", originally builders of canals or "inland navigations". In the U.S. Southwest and Mexico, Mexican and Mexican-American track workers were colloquially "traqueros". In some texts, the term is described as specific to those workers who built the track. One text states that "layers of railroad track are hardly ever called gandy dancers," asserting, rather, that the job of the gandy dancer refers to "track examiners", ascribing their responsibilities as "checking ties, bolts, track, and roadbed for necessary repairs." However, most sources refer to gandy dancers as the men who did the difficult physical work of track maintenance under the direction of an overseer. There are various theories about the derivation of the term, but most refer to the "dancing" movements of the workers using a specially manufactured 5-foot "lining" bar as a lever to keep the tracks in alignment.
Matched Categories
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of gandy dancer in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of gandy dancer in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Translations for gandy dancer
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"gandy dancer." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/gandy+dancer>.
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