gandy dancer

See also: gandy-dancer

English

Alternative forms

• gandy-dancer

Etymology

Uncertain; see Wikipedia for various speculative etymologies.

Noun

gandy dancer (plural gandy dancers)

1. (chiefly US, idiomatic) A railway laborer, especially a member of a crew which carries rails and affixes them to ties.
   • 1929, Vernon W. Saul, “The Vocabulary of Bums”, in American Speech, volume 4, number 5, page 340:

     Gandy dancer—A section hand or track laborer.

   • 1959 May 18, “Bush Teachers”, in Time, retrieved 14 September 2008:

     The oddest gandy-dancer on the railroads in Manitoba during the summer of 1926 was a 6-ft. 4-in. American medical student named Ben Spock.

   • 1981 May 3, Edward C. Burks, “Amtrak Changes on Schedule”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 June 2014:

     In railroad slang, a gandy dancer is a track worker, one who lays or maintains track.

Related terms

• gandy dance
• gandy dancing