I am pretending to be a working man, and I am displeased with some of your synonyms.

To demonstrate how quickly the language shifts, I posted lists of synonyms earlier in the week for the words “doctor” and “criminal” from my all-time favorite reference book, the 1971 Webster’s New World Thesaurus. Today I bring you the most telling synonyms for the word “laborer” from that same book. Notice that “stooge” is on the lists for both “criminal” and “laborer” and that most of the “laborer” descriptions are none too complimentary.

• Automaton
• Beast of burden
• Chattel
• Doormat
• Flunky
• Hack
• Hand
• Helot
• Hired man
• Hireling
• Instrument
• Mercenary
• Peon
• Pick-and-shovel man
• Robot
• Roustabout
• Stevedore
• Stooge
• Thrall
• Villein

Read other Listeria lists.