roughnecks
Oil platform laborers
Roughnecks are workers on oil drilling rigs, performing physically demanding labor on the drill floor.
The term extends to any tough, rough-mannered person, often with connotations of working-class masculinity and readiness for a fight: A crew of roughnecks showed up at the bar after their shift.
The word can be affectionate or dismissive depending on context.
Those who bore holes
- roustaboutsUnskilled laborers, often itinerant
- motormanElectric transit vehicle operator
- drillingHole-making by rotation
- rigEquipment arrangement or vehicle
derrick · platform · wellhead · pipelayers · workover · completion · rotary · shiftwork
People who engage in fistfights
- troublemakersThose causing problems deliberately
- hooligansViolent young troublemakers
- toughsViolent, aggressive people
- bruisersLarge intimidating people
scrappy · rowdies · ruffians · loudmouths · rabble-rousers · hard-drinking · hell-raisers
drillers
Those who bore holes
- roustaboutsUnskilled laborers, often itinerant
- motormanElectric transit vehicle operator
- drillingHole-making by rotation
rig · derrick · platform · wellhead · pipelayers · workover · completion · rotary · shiftwork · wildcatter
brawlers
People who engage in fistfights
- troublemakersThose causing problems deliberately
- hooligansViolent young troublemakers
- toughsViolent, aggressive people
bruisers · scrappy · rowdies · ruffians · loudmouths · rabble-rousers · hard-drinking · hell-raisers
tough
Durable and strong
hardy · leathery · unpolished · sturdy · raw · robust · stalwart · resilient · calloused · sunburned
team
Organized cooperative unit
mates · crewmates · comrades · brotherhood · partners · shift · hands · coworkers · colleagues · posse
- petroleumcrude oil, crude, petroleum, oil wells, oil fields
- oil industrypetroleum, oil fields, oil well, oil rig, oil production
- thugsthugs, goons, heavies, toughs, brutes
- Gulf Coast peopleshrimpers, oystermen, Cajuns, Creoles, fishermen
- oilfieldscrude oil, drilling rigs, oil wells, pump jacks, pumpjacks
- Permian BasinOdessa, oil fields, oil wells, oil rigs, pump jacks
roughnecksoffice workers
Indoor professional employees
white-collar workers · desk jockeys · pencil pushers · paper pushers · suits
roughnecksgentlemen
Men of refinement
aristocrats · sophisticates · ladies and gentlemen · elites · highbrows
roughneckssofties
Overly sentimental people
weaklings · milquetoasts · tenderfeet · cream puffs · soft hands