gandy dancer

[gan-dee] /ˈgæn di/
noun, Railroads Slang.
1.
a member of a railroad section gang that lays or maintains track.
Origin
1915-20; dancer apparently in reference to the rhythmic movements characteristic of such work; gandy is unexplained; the existence of a Gandy Manufacturing Company, which supposedly produced tools used by section gangs, has not been substantiated
British Dictionary definitions for gandy dancer

gandy dancer

/ˈɡændɪ/
noun
1.
(slang) a railway track maintenance worker
Word Origin
C20: of uncertain origin
Word Origin and History for gandy dancer

"railroad maintenance worker," 1918, American English slang, of unknown origin; dancer perhaps from movements required in the work of tamping down ties or pumping a hand-cart, gandy perhaps from the name of a machinery belt company in Baltimore, Maryland.

Slang definitions & phrases for gandy dancer

gandy dancer

noun phrase
  1. A railroad track worker (1915+ Hoboes, railroad & lumberjacks)
  2. Any manual laborer, esp a pick-and-shovel digger (1940s+ Loggers)
  3. A seller of novelties (1930s+ Carnival)

[origin unknown; a 1935 source says that the third sense was ''mentioned by George Borrow in his descriptions of early nineteenth-century street fairs'']