roughneck

roughneck
n
British
a youth, especially a tough, admirable male. A 1990s synonym for rude boy or bad-boy first used by black gang mem-bers before being adopted by other schoolchildren and teenagers. Like those terms, it is typical of the tendency by transgressive subcultures to adopt, for the purpose of irony and bravado, the pejorative language of their critics (as in bad, wicked, etc.)

Contemporary slang . 2014.

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  • Roughneck — (or ruffneck) is a slang term for an unskilled or slightly skilled labourer in a number of industries. In particular, it is the official name of a semi skilled role on a North American oil rig. In Australia, a roughneck is known as an… …   Wikipedia

  • roughneck — ☆ roughneck [ruf′nek΄ ] n. 1. Informal a rough, crude person, esp. one who is quarrelsome and disorderly; rowdy 2. a worker on an oil drilling rig, esp. a member of the crew which feeds pipe into the well vi. to work as a roughneck roughnecking n …   English World dictionary

  • roughneck — (n.) also rough neck, 1836, rugged individual, from ROUGH (Cf. rough) (adj.) + NECK (Cf. neck) (n.). Original context is the Texas frontier, later adpoted to labor organization toughs. Specific sense of oil rig worker is recorded from 1917 …   Etymology dictionary

  • roughneck — ► NOUN 1) informal a rough, uncouth person. 2) an oil rig worker …   English terms dictionary

  • roughneck — [[t]rʌ̱fnek[/t]] roughnecks 1) N COUNT A roughneck is a man who operates an oil well. [mainly AM, INFORMAL] 2) N COUNT (disapproval) If you describe a man as a roughneck, you disapprove of him because you think he is not gentle or polite, and can …   English dictionary

  • roughneck — UK [ˈrʌfˌnek] / US noun [countable] Word forms roughneck : singular roughneck plural roughnecks informal 1) someone who behaves in a rude or threatening way 2) someone who works on an oil rig …   English dictionary

  • roughneck — I. noun Date: 1836 1. a. a rough or uncouth person b. rowdy, tough 2. a worker of an oil well drilling crew other than the driller II. adjective Date: 1916 having the characteristics of or suitable for a roughneck …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • roughneck — /ruf nek /, n. 1. a rough, coarse person; a tough. 2. any laborer working on an oil drilling rig. Cf. roustabout (def. 4). v.i. 3. to work as a roughneck. [1830 40, Amer.; ROUGH + NECK] * * * …   Universalium

  • roughneck — rough•neck [[t]ˈrʌfˌnɛk[/t]] n. 1) a rough, coarse person; tough 2) a laborer working on an oil drilling rig 3) cvb to work as a roughneck • Etymology: 1830–40 …   From formal English to slang

  • roughneck — {n.} A low, coarse fellow. * /The only boys in the neighborhood are a bunch of roughnecks, and Mrs. Smith is unhappy about the fact that her son is rapidly becoming one of them./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • roughneck — {n.} A low, coarse fellow. * /The only boys in the neighborhood are a bunch of roughnecks, and Mrs. Smith is unhappy about the fact that her son is rapidly becoming one of them./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

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