Working Class History

From Chew Inclusive Terminology Glossary
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Term Contextual note Time/Region References
able bodied poor
achievement gap APA Style – Socioeconomic status
alms

alms person

almsman

almswoman

Charitable donations of food or money to the poor or those considered unable to look after themselves UK Historic England - Disability Glossary
bankrupt
beggar/s

bag lady

bag man

bag woman

bagman

bagwoman

beachcomber

beggarman

beggarwoman

bludger

borrower

Cadger

chav

Dawdler

derelict

derro

dosser

down-and-out

down-and-outer

freeloader

grifter

hanger-on

leech

mendicant/s

mooch

moocher/s

mosquito

outcast/s

outcaste/s

palliard

panhandler/s

parasite/s

scroat

schnorrer

scrounge

scrounger/s

sorner

sponge/s

sponger/s

starveling

street dweller

street people

streety

sundowner

supplicant

swagman

tussocker

quandong

A destitute person seeking money or help from members of the public Historic England - Disability Glossary
bridewell/s Originally a type of hospital, first established in the 16th century for the improvement of the ‘idle poor’. Eventually became houses of correction for beggars and petty criminals Historic England - Disability Glossary
bum/s

stumblebum

bindle stiff

deadbeat

busker/s

busking

street performance

First noted in the English language in the 1860s. From the Spanish root word buscar, meaning “to seek”.
chav/s

chavvy

BBC – Stop use of ‘chav’
dosser Refers to a homeless and jobless person
ghetto

ghettoes

inner city

APA Style – Socioeconomic status
guttersnipe

street urchin

A ‘street urchin’, or someone from the lowest social or economic class; a vagrant or homeless person Word Hippo - Guttersnipe
have-not/s

have not/s

haves

hick/s US term for ‘unsophisticated or uneducated people from the countryside’
hobo/s

hoboes

homeless

the homeless

the projects

Homeless is generally acceptable as an adjective to describe people without a fixed residence. Avoid the term "the homeless." Instead: homeless people, people without housing or people without homes. Mention that a person is homeless only when relevant. Paula Froke - AP Stylebook

APA Style – Socioeconomic status

idle poor
impotent In its early English sense referred to people considered unable to look after themselves for reasons of age, infirmity, or disability. The “impotent poor” were distinguished from the “able bodied” poor in legislation UK Historic England - Disability Glossary
inmates https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/04/12/what-words-we-use-and-avoid-when-covering-people-and-incarceration
itinerant
job seeker/s

job-seeker/s

the unemployed

juvenille delinquent

enfant trouvé

gutterpup

hooligan

minx

mischief-maker

orphan

prankster

punk

rapscallion

rascal

tearaway

wastrel

whippersnapper

Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH  
less educated

high school dropout

Focus on what people have, not what they lack
low class people

low-class people

laboring class

labouring class

mudlark Someone, especially a young child, who is poorly or raggedly dressed Word Hippo - Mudlark
needy

the needy

ne’er do well

never do well

good for nothing

no-good

no good

no goodnik

pariah

castaway

castoff

dogie

drifter

exile

flotsam

gamin

jetsam

loafer

mudlark

outcast

perisher

person non grata

puck

recluse

reprobate

scallywag

scapegrace

scarecrow

stray

tearaway

tyke

urchin

waif

wretch

pauper/s
pikey/s
poor

the poor

poor people

poverty

destitution

pov

poverty stricken APA Style – Socioeconomic status
ragamuffin Refers to a dirty, shabbily-dressed child Word Hippo - Ragamuffin
tatterdemalion Refers to a person dressed in rags Word Hippo - Tatterdemalion
tramps

Trampy

The great unwashed

Scally

urchin Refers to someone, especially a young child, who is poorly or raggedly dressed
unhoused person/people Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH

https://archive.curbed.com/2020/6/11/21273455/homeless-people-definition-copy-editing

Unskilled labour/ers

Unskilled labor/ers

Cataloging Lab - Problem LCSH
vagabond/s
vagrant/s

vagrancy

weary willy
welfare reliant Avoid language that focuses on blaming the individual or on individual deficits APA Style – Socioeconomic status
white trash US term for lower class white people USA Wikipedia – List of ethnic slurs


NPR – Why is it still ok to ‘trash’ poor white people?

workhouse