Pullman porter
1
8.6
- noun
- /ˈpʊlmən ˈpɔrtər/
- Archaic
:
mozo Pullman
- She was a seventh-grade math teacher at Burbank Junior High School; she'd gone to Cal herself. My grandfather was a Pullman porter for the Southern Pacific Railway, which had its terminus in Oakland, so he dropped his family down in southwest Berkeley and got active in the union.
- worked as a Pullman porter
Examples
-
Blacks with college and even graduate degrees worked as Pullman porters, rail-station "red caps," hotel bellhops, and stockyard laborers.
Academic text (2000) -
Like I'm a fucking Pullman porter.
-
My daughter... ...is married to a Pullman porter.
-
"And you're the perfect Pullman porter.
Fiction book (1998) -
He wears a worn Pullman Porter uniform with a red hat to match.
Fiction book (2000) -
The Golden West must have begun as a stopover for railroad employees, especially Pullman porters.
Academic text (1998) -
Early in the twentieth century, many of the "best" jobs for African Americans were in the service industry, illustrated by the fact that highly educated black men often had few opportunities in the broader economy apart from work as Pullman porters.
Blog text (26) -
Kaufman senior was a Pullman porter and part of one of the most historic labor efforts in American history—the organization of the Black Pullman Porter Union.
Blog text (17) -
Kaufman senior was a Pullman porter and part of one of the most historic labor efforts in American history—the organization of the Black Pullman Porter Union.
Blog text (17) -
The Pullman porter helped passengers settle into their beds and made sure everyone was comfortable during the night.
Synonyms
71
2.3
A person who carries suitcases and bags at hotels or stations
A man who handles passengers' bags on a train
How Helpful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Pullman + porter
The noun 'porter' clearly indicates a service worker who assists passengers, so learners would grasp the general role. However, 'Pullman' is a proper name referring to a specific type of railroad sleeping car (historical/brand-specific knowledge) that B1 learners are unlikely to know, so the precise sense ('porter on Pullman/sleeping cars') cannot be fully derived from the parts.
Etymology
Pullman porter comes from the Pullman company that made special sleeping train cars, and porters were the workers who looked after passengers on those cars. They would make up beds and help travelers, so the term means 'a railroad worker who helps people on Pullman sleeper cars'.