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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary

by trade

0 I often hear 'He is a carpenter by trade.' or 'He is a blacksmith by trade.'.02br
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00 Is the idiom 'by trade' used only for skilled workers such as carpenter or blacksmith?02br
00 Can't you use it for white-collar workers such as sales person, secretary or researcher?02br
00 For example, how about 'I'm a pharmacist by trade.'?0-
  

Top answer

0I'd say 'by trade' is usually only used to refer to an occupation involving skilled manual or mechanical work. I'd never say 'a secretary by trade' or 'a researcher by trade', but I might possibly say 'a pharmacist by trade' -- probably due to the fact that I've heard many pharmacists complain that their job seems to consist primarily of manually measuring or counting out medication. 0-

— Yankee

  • 0I'd say 'by trade' is usually only used to refer to an occupation involving skilled manual or mechanical work.
  • I'd never say 'a secretary by trade' or 'a researcher by trade', but I might possibly say 'a pharmacist by trade' -- probably due to the fact that I've heard many pharmacists complain that their job seems to consist primarily of manually measuring or counting out medication.
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14 Answers
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0I'd say 'by trade' is usually only used to refer to an occupation involving skilled manual or mechanical work. I'd never say 'a secretary by trade' or 'a researcher by trade', but I might possibly say 'a pharmacist by trade' -- probably due to the fact that I've heard many pharmacists complain that their job seems to consist primarily of manually measuring or counting out medication. 0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Anonymous12cite10I often hear 'He is a carpenter by trade.' or 'He is a blacksmith by trade.'.12br
12br
10Is the idiom 'by trade' used only for skilled workers such as carpenter or blacksmith?12br
10Can't you use it for white-collar workers such as sales person, secretary or researcher?12br
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0 Is there any difference between 'by trade' and 'by occupation'?02br
00 Is 'by occupation' used for skilled manual workers or mental laborers?02br
00 How about 'I'm a welder by occupation.'?02br
00 How about 'I'm a computer engineer b occupation.'?02br
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1i00By trade02i00 is the usual phrase for skilled manual workers. White collar workers, I think, would avoid the form entirely:01i00 I am a computer engineer02i00. Period.0-
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0The only time I can think of when you would use a phrase like "by occupation" or "by trade" (or whatever) is when you want to draw a contrast between what you do to 01i00earn money02i00, and what you do in your life that you really 01i00enjoy02i00.02br
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00I'm an accountant by trade but I'm a painter at heart. I'm a writer by
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0 Got it.02br
00 Thank u for ur explanation. 0-
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Is "carpenter by profession" correct or "carpenter by trade" correct ? "carpenter by profession" is more apt as "by trade" generally means you are exchanging something ?

But profession is you are rendering your services . Am I missing something fundamental here ?

Thanks,
Raja.
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Hi,

Is "carpenter by profession" correct or "carpenter by trade" correct ? "carpenter by profession" is more apt as "by trade" generally means you are exchanging something ?

But profession is you are rendering your services . Am I missing something fundamental here ? Yes. You are not aware that one meaning of 'trade' is 'a skilled handicraft'. That's why we often call carpente
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Thanks for the explaination, Clive. I got that but I am still not clear if there is anything wrong with "carpenter by profession" ?
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No, there is nothing wrong with it, but we usually reserve "profession" for careers requiring a university degree (engineers, scientists, doctors, etc.), and "trade" for careers requiring a vocational school degree or an apprenticeship under a licenced practitioner (plumbers, electicians, stonemasons, etc.).
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