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barrow boy

noun

Etymology

From barrow + boy. First use appears c. 1939. See cite below. The slang usage dates from the 1980s.

  1. derived from *bʰā-✻
  2. derived from *bō-✻ — “brother, close male relation”
  3. inherited from *bōjô✻ — “younger brother, young male relation”
  4. inherited from *bōjō✻
  5. inherited from *bōia✻ — “boy”
  6. inherited from boy//boye — “servant, commoner, knave, boy”
  7. compounded as barrow boy — “barrow + boy”

Definitions

  1. A boy or man who sells goods, especially fruits or vegetables, from a barrow

    A boy or man who sells goods, especially fruits or vegetables, from a barrow; a costermonger.

    • I pointed out to him that it was impossible for him to do that ... barrow boys to take him back to Manchester.
    • ...at a London magistrate's court a young coster — a barrow boy — was summoned before me for selling rhubarb without a licence.

  2. A financial industry worker from a working class or lower middle class family background.

    • The "barrow boy" commodities trader may well have no aspirations to old-style middle class tastes.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA