Forgotten trades or linguistic oddities

Besides the over 300.000 words the vocabulary of this language is made up of, Romanian folks, creative as they are, add other ones.

Now hiring bundlers, agglomeraters and fumers An inexhaustible source of new words and, at the same time, a source of humor is what we call the COR, namely, the Classification of Occupations in Romania, compiled by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the National Commission for Statistics. And, in case you didn’t know, in Romania there are now hiring bundlers, agglomeraters and textile fumers. The bundler is not a man who bundles itself, but an occupation under code 7732: “Workers – craftsmen in the production of handicraft items of textiles, leather and similar materials”. The agglomerater helps in manufacturing “agglomerates”, in the field of ore processing. Textile fumers are part of the category of “weavers and knitters”. Haunchers, who are also disjointers of meat, we suppose, deal with “haunching” the bones from “haunches”, that is the steaks. Thus, it might be a trade very sought. An exceptional trade is that of the “caulker shipwright”. This one, part of the “carpenters and related workers” category, is a carpenter specialized in processing ship wood. The beveller, which cannot be found in the DEX, is part of the category of “constructors and mounters of metal structures”.

Brakers set brakes, pheasanters raise pheasants

In category 2 in 1 one we find breakers, molders, diggers and blowers. Yes, today in Romania such “craftsmen” are hired. However, breakers don’t break into the neighbor’s house, but they break rocks. Molders nowadays are only those who manufacture “manually or mechanically the foundry molds and the cores and execute the molding operation for the metal”, and they are at the same time formers and core workers. Diggers don’t dig at their colleagues, but they dig wells, and blowers blow in the warm glass in order to shape it as required.

In the COR we find the trade of the “linoists”, which, naturally, deals with linoleum, more specifically, with its gluing. “Toolers” work with tools, making sure these are in good shape, and “brakers” are the persons who set up the brakes (for trains). Along with the bird raisers, in the same classification, we find the “pheasanters”, that is the pheasant raisers. Then again, we ask why we cannot find henners, goosers or duckers.

Phone operators and dobby mechanics

He who says that in Romania sexual discrimination is practiced against the weaker sex, is wrong. According to the COR, there are strictly feminine trades. Thus, we find only stenographresses and dactylographresses, and in the telephony services, there are only “phone operator women”. In the category of miscellaneous, we find trades such as “needle and accessories finishers” and “dobby mechanics”.

Hannelore STANASEL