roadman

English

Etymology

road +‎ -man

Noun

roadman (plural roadmen)

1. A man who builds or repairs roads.
   • 1913, Worcestershire County Council, Minutes of the Proceedings, page 207:

     Ernest Tipping had known the road for over 35 years and seen the roadman repairing it.

   • 2008 January 28, Edward Rothstein, “Novel to Screen to Stage: Evolving, Step by Step”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Any reader turning to the original novel would hardly recognize it in the shadow of Hitchcock’s film, so preoccupied is it with describing the glens and heathery mountains of the Scottish highlands, inhabited with an unlikely cavalcade of native eccentrics: an innkeeper with literary aspirations, a Liberal candidate with pacifist sympathies, a lower-class roadman laid up by drink, a bald archaeologist who isn’t quite what he seems.

2. (British, chiefly MLE, slang) A member of a subculture characterised by their clothing (notably puffer jackets and sportswear) as street fashion and the music they listen to, notably drill music.
   • 2018 September 10, Harley Tamplin, “Police hope this embarrassing ‘slang dictionary’ will help them engage with young people”, in Metro‎^[2]:

     And officers’ definition of ‘roadman’ could prove to be controversial. They described the term as a ‘teenager who involves themselves in smoking weed, no education, puffa jacket and man bag, acts hard on a bike’.

   • 2020 January 30, Ross Dwyer, “What's A Roadman? A Brief Background Of The UK's Most Popular Style”, in Piff Minneapolis‎^[3], archived from the original on 24 November 2020:

     The roadman look is very working-class (although it can be made to appear high-end), and features key pieces like matching tracksuits, technical jackets (like Nike wind runners or lightweight Stone Island shells) running caps, ‘trainers’ (like any Nike Air Max or a Reebok Classic), bum/shoulder bags, and maybe even a scarf on colder days.

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