How to call someone a working stiff?

Question

How would you say this?- "He was a working stiff, making just enough money to get by"

Answer 1

Sorry, Moe, and everybody, I got misled, so I gave the wrong answer.

And now we are back were we began, how, if at all, could you say “working stiff” in Spanish.

Es un currito/currante y no gana más que lo justo para sobrevivir.

currito. (De currar). 1. m. coloq. Trabajador que realiza labores sin importancia.

This is the definition, but we call a currito also somebody who works hard and gets badly paid.

currante. (De currar). 1. com. coloq. Persona que trabaja.

Answer 2

I disagree with these interpretations. A working stiff doesn't mean that the person is a workaholic. It just means he puts in long, tedious hours or does physical manual labor so that he is physically exhausted.

A working stiff usually refers to Joe Lunchbox, blue collar worker or a low level white collar worker that tirelessly plods along at his job for long hours, but not as a executive who works long hours (but not at physical labor) which is normally seen as a workaholic.

The earning little money goes along with this context of manual laborer or lower level white collar worker, rather than with workaholics that trade their lives for the fortunes that they garner.

• Very well said. - webdunce Sep 10, 2009
• Does Spanish even have a word or phrase for "working stiff?" - webdunce Sep 10, 2009
• Really? well, then enganchado no va..... - Heidita Sep 11, 2009

Answer 3

Hmmm,

Está enganchado al trabajo /es un adicto al trabajo

• Wrong answer, look below. - Heidita Sep 11, 2009

Answer 4

working stiff = someone with a hard, low-paying job.

• You just beat me here, but I agree with you wholeheartedly. - qfreed Sep 10, 2009
• Great minds....eh? ;) - webdunce Sep 10, 2009
• I agree. They are lost on this workaholic kick and that's not the topic. - --Mariana-- Sep 10, 2009

Answer 5

Ese tipo es duro trabajo, ganado dinero solamente suficiente para sobrevivir.

• I thought this one was good, too. - webdunce Sep 11, 2009

Answer 6

Hi RAchel, nice expression I am not familiar with. Is that a person who does not like working?

Answer 7

Si mi tierra, esa misma. El es bien engancha'o a su trabajo.

• Hi Chris. The correct spelling is "enganchado." - --Mariana-- Sep 10, 2009
• That was for effect, mi cielo. It's a manner of speech that some people use. Like when I tawk like dis 'cause I wanna make some point! - ChamacoMalo Sep 11, 2009

Answer 8

I would translate the sentence like this: "Era un obseso del trabajo, haciendo dinero sólo para sobrevivir"

• Working stiffs are not obsessed with work, workaholics are! - webdunce Sep 10, 2009

Answer 9

JohnJuan said:

Ese tipo es duro trabajo, ganado dinero solamente suficiente para sobrevivir.

But, I think RaquelS is looking for a Spanish Idiom that means “working stiff” and I don’t see it in this reply.

JohnJuan also said:

It's an American slang thing...he's a working stiff...he works so much he's stiff.

Yes it is North American slang. However, it is not that the worker is physically stiff. That’s an incorrect interpretation.

Heidita said:

Está enganchado al trabajo /es un adicto al trabajo

A working stiff is not thought to be a workaholic. The concept of working stiff does not embrace workaholism.

JohnJuan said:

Si mi tierra, esa misma. El es bien engancha'o a su trabajo.

Reject this idea as it only endorses Heidita’s mistake.

Dunia said:

I would translate the sentence like this: "Era un obseso del trabajo, haciendo dinero sólo para sobrevivir"

Reject this as it endorse the concept of being a workaholic which I have already cast out.

Webdunce said:

Working stiff = someone with a hard, low paying job

I do not agree. The working stiff’s job does not need to be either hard or low paying.

..........Now here is a real rarity. I also do not agree with Qfreed, my exemplar in most things. The ideas of long hours, tedious hours and physical exhaustion are not necessary indicators of a working stiff.

........."Working stiff” is really undefined. It’s an idiom that is not explained by simply defining its two component words. It tends to imply an ordinary person who works in a non-management position in order to earn enough money to live, usually at a very boring or menial or mundane or common garden variety job. Also, there is not usually anything derogatory or derisive about the term "working stiff". As with anything spoken or written, it is possible to give it a negative meaning if it is expressed sneeringly or contemptuously.

..........Then, wonder of wonders, as a comment to Qfreed’s reply, Webdunce gets us back to the original question posed by RaquelS. Does the Spanish language have a word, a phrase or an idiom that is the equal of the English idiom “Working stiff”.

...........And now we are back were we began, how, if at all, could you say “working stiff” in Spanish.

• You definition is correct. For an actual definition, go to: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/working+stiff - webdunce Sep 10, 2009

Answer 10

Here's an attempt...

Era un obrero común que ganó dinero solamente suficiente para sobrevivir.

En inglés: He was a common laborer who made only enough money to survive.

(got that last part from JohnJuan)

Answer 11

es trabajador!

Answer 12

I love this!!! I love the process of interpretation. A college professor once told me that you could ask one question to two people and you'd get three answers!

• lol... - ChamacoMalo Sep 11, 2009

Answer 13

That's a really good one. You know such good words! You should share them with us more often...and you know me...I like the ones un pocito mas sabroso!

Answer 14

Heidita...you should just make a thing called "Hiedita's Ismos" in which you share with us the sayings que son las mas usadas de tu lado del mundo. I don't know if others would like that, but I would.

Answer 15

Great discussion everyone! I wish I had been around to check my e-mail, I could've gotten involved. The way I define "working stiff" is what everyone eventually agreed upon. Someone with a menial, unfulfilling job who makes just enough money to get by.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I can define myself that way! Yikes.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I pick Heidita's answer as the winner: "currante/currito." Unfortunately currito seems to be a colloquialism native to Spain, so I doubt that anyone I talk to would recognize the word, since I live in N. America. But, I still love it!