Working Class History

Term	Contextual note	Time period/ Region note	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