fettler

English

Etymology

From fettle +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

fettler (plural fettlers)

1. A person who maintains railway lines.
   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VI, in Capricornia‎^[1], page 79:

     Sometimes the engine stopped for water, or to drop stores at fettlers' camps, or to accumulate the steam to take it up a heavy grade.

   • 1939, Comrade Fettler (a Union song about Fettlers])[2]

     The summer brings its nursery, with dust and sandy blight

     But the Fettler must keep toiling, to keep the track alright.

2. Someone whose job is to sand and grind small imperfections from metal and ceramic castings.
3. (by extension) Someone who fiddles or tinkers with things.
4. (slang, UK, Lancashire) A friend or mate

   How's tha' doing fettler?

5. (mining, historical) An ostler; one who looks after the horses in a mine.