5:1 Roustabout

Where and When I found it: Since I spent most of my Sunday locked in my room working on lesson planning, I needed a quick laugh. I searched Google for "uncommon words" to see what would come up. I clicked the second link and was quickly amused with the weekly themes of uncommon words that the website had to offer. I selected the category words derived from birds. I clicked on the term roustabout and decided this would be a good word choice. I found the definition at http://wordsmith.org/words/roustabout.html.

What It Means: The word roustabout  is a noun and according to wordsmith.org means a casual or unskilled worker and often refers to a laborer on an oil rig. I love the episode of I Love Lucy when Lucy was a roustabout candy worker stuffing candy in her hat and shirt, what a classic. (see image to go along with my sentence) Wordsmith.org (2010) Roustabout retrieved from http://wordsmith.org/words/roustabout.html.

My level of familiarity with the word: I do not think that I have ever heard of the term before.

Do I Want to Know It Well? I think that it is an interesting term. The word physically reminds me of "roundabout" such as the circle that drivers take to go to a intersection. I think that this is a much gentler term than calling some one an "unskilled" worker" and thus that is why I want to know it well.

Do I think Others Should Know it Well? I believe others should know it well. I am guessing in areas where oil rigs are, people might be more familiar with the term roustabout. Again, I think others should know this word because it is a nice way of calling someone an unskilled worker or someone new to a job field.