Anonymous  +  334853 Fri, 02 Mar 07 10:52 AM I often hear 'He is a carpenter by trade.' or 'He is a blacksmith by trade.'. Is the idiom 'by trade' used only for skilled workers such as carpenter or blacksmith? Can't you use it for white-collar workers such as sales person, secretary or researcher? For example, how about 'I'm a pharmacist by trade.'? Anonymous Idioms

	Yankee  +  334896 Fri, 02 Mar 07 12:19 PM I'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.  Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,506 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

	Philip  +  334964 Fri, 02 Mar 07 03:57 PM  Anonymous wrote: I often hear 'He is a carpenter by trade.' or 'He is a blacksmith by trade.'. Is the idiom 'by trade' used only for skilled workers such as carpenter or blacksmith? Can't you use it for white-collar workers such as sales person, secretary or researcher? For example, how about 'I'm a pharmacist by trade.'? "by training", "by profession" and "by experience" are also heard.  I, myself, have said "by training I am a language teacher and by experience a church musician". Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,738 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Idioms

	Mister Micawber  +  335257 Sat, 03 Mar 07 03:00 PM By trade is the usual phrase for skilled manual workers.  White collar workers, I think, would avoid the form entirely: I am a computer engineer.  Period. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,841 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	Grammar Geek  +  335314 Sat, 03 Mar 07 04:44 PM The 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 earn money, and what you do in your life that you really enjoy. I'm an accountant by trade but I'm a painter at heart. I'm a writer by occupation, but I'm really a mom. But otherwise, as Mr. M. says, if you just want to say what your job is, you just say it, period. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,683 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!