Babblers, cops and quacks: the sometimes dark – but often amusing – origins of nicknames for jobs

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These days, human resources (HR) departments want us to use official titles for jobs. But we know the social truths of a job — how well that job gets done, whether we like the person doing it — are much more complex.

Nicknames for jobs help us manage workplace performances, personalities and power beyond HR spreadsheets — and they can be a lot of fun.