Dang, that’s some construction slang

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By Jeff Moore

Slang is one of the most important contributions to the human and social group lexicon; in this case, construction worker groups.

Your lexicon and syntax would be entirely stagnant without these socially accepted informal terms, or at least limited to the handful of boring expressions you’d use over and over until some dirt jockey can’t take it anymore and cloons you in the brain with a jimmied-up New York screwdriver.

This is the start of a list of the construction-related slang I have heard and collected in my slang notebooks throughout the years and approximate definitions of them. To the four of you who read this regularly: Please feel free to contribute to this ongoing list by emailing me or leaving your submission in the comments field; or if you have a better or alternate definition for ones listed.

Slang is going to differ by region, company, type of work and brain function, so don’t feel like your slang or definition thereof will be wrong. If fact, make stuff up if you wish. We encourage originality and creativity here; well, in this blog at least.

Construction Slang Terms

Balls:

In land surveying, balls refers to a measurement ending in a double zero. For example, a measurement of 7.00 is referred to as “7 balls.”

Biff:

(1) To fall down. (2) To make a major mistake.

Brownfield:

An industrial site, especially when contaminated; a vacated building lot which has not reverted
to a green state.

Cloon:

To impact the ground with one’s head, aka Cranial Disharmony.

Cowboy:

A scraper operator

Crater:

(1) To hit the ground from great altitude. (2) To fail catastrophically.

Gandy stick:

Railroad slang for a tamping rod.

Ginnie hopper:

An apprentice grade-checker or surveyor.

Gun:

(1) Equipment designed to deliver shotcrete. (2) A pressure cylinder for pneumatic delivery of freshly mixed concrete. (3) A spray gun. (4) A slang expression for a transit, as it is used to shoot grades.

Hammerfor:

The uninitiated are tricked into inquiring as to the purpose of this mythical device.

IBEW:

I Block Every Walkway

Juice a brick:

To recharge a battery or other rechargeable.

Modify:

To alter by accident, e.g., “Boss, I just modified your fender with my dozer.”

New York screwdriver:

A very large hammer.

Peter Pan housing:

Homes not built to take into account the needs of elderly resident

Plumber:

A grave insult to a pipefitter.

Two-block:

An unflattering nickname for a crane operator who has, through negligence, hoisted the
crane’s ball and hook into its boom.

Yard sale:

A catastrophic crash or fall that scatters one’s gear and tools all over the ground as if
on display for a yard sale.

Jeff Moore is a data jockey at The Daily Reporter.