trouble-shootern.
Originally U.S.
1. A person who traces and corrects faults in machinery and equipment (originally spec. on a telegraph or telephone line). Cf. trouble-hunter n., trouble man n. at trouble n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > [noun] > line > one who maintains or works on
lineman1858
linesman1883
trouble-shooter1905
grunt1908
trouble-hunter1910
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > engineer > [noun] > trouble-shooter
trouble man1889
trouble-shooter1905
trouble-hunter1910
1905 Strand Mag. Mar. 268/1 A good looking young ‘trouble-shooter’—as a mender of telephone lines is called—had..asked her to marry him.
1913 Red Cross Mag. Jan. 34/1 Among them are..the ‘trouble shooters’, highly trained men who are responsible for the repairing of any breaks in the plant or equipment.
1931 ‘B. Starke’ Touch & Go xv. 248 A trouble-shooter for the telephone lines.
1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes xi. 121 Particularly in the early stages of operation the Berkeley men stationed at Clinton were invaluable as ‘trouble-shooters’ and in instructing operators.
1951 Engineering 2 Feb. 133/2 Manufacture..by fully-automatic machine shops..with only a few skilled men as ‘trouble-shooters’.
1959 H. Hobson Mission House Murder xxi. 140 A post office electronics expert and trouble-shooter.
2. A person who specializes in removing or solving difficulties; esp. a mediator in diplomatic or industrial affairs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > amending > [noun] > putting problems right > one who
trouble-shooter1927
society > occupation and work > worker > those involved in labour relations > [noun] > mediator
trouble-shooter1927
1927 Sat. Evening Post 15 Jan. 153/3 With the ‘Trouble-Shooters’ of the North Atlantic Icebergs... Locating and destroying them is the perilous and never-ending duty of the United States Coast Guard cutters.
1933 R. C. Mayer How to do Publicity xi. 134 The ‘trouble-shooters’ in publicity deal mostly with such emergencies.
1940 R. S. Lambert Ariel & all his Quality iii. 77 The light had gone out of the Talks... His successors were chosen to be what Americans call ‘trouble shooters’.
1953 W. R. Burnett Vanity Row iii. 21 He needed an expert trouble-shooter, untainted by police politics.
1962 R. B. Fuller Epic Poem on Industrialization 24 Self-helpless old fashioned business Was forced to call in..Professional Trouble-shooters.
1971 H. Wilson Labour Govt. ix. 136 The appointment of an industrial relations ‘trouble-shooter’ for the industry.
Derivatives
trouble-shoot v. [as a back-formation] transitive and intransitive to solve (a problem), to repair; to mediate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > amending > provide a remedy [verb (intransitive)] > put problems right
trouble-shoot1938
to shoot trouble1965
the world > action or operation > amending > put right [verb (transitive)] > put (problems) right
trouble-shoot1938
1938 E. B. White Let. 18 Nov. (1976) 186 This place teems with trouble of one sort and another. I am up every morning at twenty past six, trouble shooting.
1941 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 19 Aug. 1 (heading) Judge Rosenman..is now in capital, trouble-shooting the bottle~neck.
1957 V. Packard Hidden Persuaders xviii. 208 One firm that provides psychological bug-hunting services to industry cited the service it performed in trouble~shooting an employee problem in Ohio.
1969 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 8 June 2/7 (advt.) Analyst—reporting to the President—required for troubleshooting all facets of the Victoria winery operation.
1978 ‘R. Lewis’ Inevitable Fatality i. 19 I'm a business consultant... My forte is to troubleshoot, to get in and out again.
ˈtrouble-shooting n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > amending > [noun] > putting problems right
trouble-shooting1918
the world > action or operation > amending > [adjective] > putting problems right
trouble-shooting1918
society > occupation and work > industry > engineering > [noun] > specific procedures
trouble hunting1882
trouble-shooting1918
batch processing1948
double dip1971
1918 V. W. Pagé Aviation Engines 9 Special attention has been paid to instructions on tool equipment, use of tools, trouble ‘shooting’ and engine repairs.
1929 Sat. Evening Post (N.Y.) 7 Dec. 70/3 A trouble-shooting car..is ready to dash out on short notice to service or replace a set that has gone dead.
1931 ‘B. Starke’ Touch & Go i. 28 His tales of..trouble-shooting from coast to coast.
1964 S. Brittan Treasury under Tories ii. 53 The Cabinet's Economic Policy Committee.., over which the Chancellor presides, is mainly a trouble-shooting body.
1977 P. Dickinson Walking Dead iv. ii. 255 His official status in the Company was a string of vague general nouns, but his job was trouble~shooting.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
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n.1905