Roughneck


Roughneck is a term for a person whose occupation is hard manual labor. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with the workers on a drilling rig. The ideal of the hard-working, tough roughneck has been adopted by several sports teams who use the phrase as part of their name or logo.
Originally the term was used in the traveling carnivals of 19th-century United States, almost interchangeably with roustabout. By the 1930s the terms had transferred to the oil drilling industry. In the United Kingdom's oil industry starting in the 1970s, roughneck specifically meant those who worked on the drill floor of a drilling rig handling specialised drilling equipment for drilling and pressure controls. In practice, these workers ranged from unskilled to highly skilled, depending subjectively on the individual worker's aptitude and experience. By contrast, a roustabout would perform general labor, such as loading and unloading cargo from crane baskets and assisting welders, mechanics, electricians and other skilled workers. The word roughneck was in use in the U.S. oil drilling industry even earlier and had a similar meaning.

Oil field roughnecks

In oil fields, a roughneck's duties can include anything involved with connecting pipe down the well bore, as well as general work around a rig. The crew of a land-based oil rig can be further divided into several positions:
In Canada on land-based rigs, the term roughneck refers to the floorhand.

Cultural references

The Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League used to use an oil rigging roughneck with an ice hockey stick as one of their secondary logos. The roughneck, as a symbol of hard work and fortitude, was the inspiration for the Calgary Roughnecks lacrosse team, as well as the Tulsa Roughnecks of the North American Soccer League, the Tulsa Roughnecks of the United Soccer Leagues, and the Tulsa Roughnecks FC of the USL. The West Texas Roughnecks of the Indoor Football League also use this nickname. In the BAFA National Leagues, the Aberdeen Roughnecks have also adopted the nickname. In the AUDL the Dallas team is also the Roughnecks. One of the inaugural teams of the revamped XFL was the Houston Roughnecks
Rubbermaid has used the name "Roughneck" for trash containers and storage totes since the mid-1970s.
In Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby, on first meeting Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway describes him as looking like "an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd."
Johnny Cash wrote and performed a song called "Born to Be a Roughneck".
Several television programs have focused on the roughneck life, including Oil Strike North, Roughnecks, and Black Gold.
Stan Rogers's song "Free in the Harbour", about the migration of Atlantic fisherman to the oil industry for work, describes these migrants as "Calgary Roughnecks from Hermitage Bay."