What Do These People Do?
Geisha, gaffer, guru — what do they do? Do cowpunchers jab cows? Do stockbrokers break things? Here's what these people really do.
Bellhop: A hotel employee who escorts guests to their rooms, carries their luggage, and familiarizes them with their surroundings
Best boy: An assistant to a gaffer in TV and movie productions
Cabin boy: A boy who acts as a servant on a ship, especially to the captain
Caddie: A golf course worker who carries clubs and assists golfers
Cowpuncher: A ranch worker who tends cattle and horses
Diva: The principal female singer in an opera
Engineer: A person who uses the principles of math and science to plan structures such as bridges, engines, roads, and canals
Extra: A person with a nonspeaking part in a movie
Gaffer: An electrician in charge of lighting on a movie or TV set
Geisha: A Japanese woman who plays classical Japanese music and performs traditional dances at private parties in Japan
Guru: A Hindu religious teacher and spiritual guide
Hermit: A person who retires from society and lives alone, often for religious reasons
Intellectual: Someone who studies and thinks about ideas
Intelligence agent: Also called a spy
Maître d': The person who shows diners to their tables and supervises the waiters in a restaurant
Medicine man: A healer or sorcerer in a Native American tribe
Page: One who delivers messages and serves as a guide
Patron: A person who uses wealth and influence to help a person or a cause
Pirate: A person who robs ships on the high seas (outside territorial waters). Today's pirates use speedboats and carry guns.
Mary Read and Anne Bonny were female pirates in the early 1700s. Disguised as men, they served as pirates on the same ship. |
Spy: One who collects and analyzes secret information about armies and battle plans
Spycatcher: One who tries to discover spies, also called a counterintelligence agent
Stand-up comedian: A person who tells jokes alone on a stage, usually in a nightclub
Stockbroker: A person who acts for others in buying and selling stocks or shares in a business
Undercover agent: Someone, usually a law enforcement agent, who pretends to be someone else in order to gain information
Valet: A personal servant who takes care of one's clothes, or a hotel employee who cares for clothes and does other personal services
