We all know what carpenters do. And plumbers. And electricians. But what’s with this guy known as a “handyman”? If he’s supposed to be someone who works with his hands, it’s not like these other folks work with their feet.
So your humble correspondent went to the Internet to find out where this strange word “handyman” comes from. The best explanation I found said it comes from the Latin word handrumetinus, which in today’s parlance might translate to “he who does not return phone calls.” Maybe, but none of the other tradesmen do, either.
So, if a handyman is not a carpenter, or a plumber, or an electrician, what’s left for him to do? Is a handyman just some poor hapless putz who wears overalls, drives aimlessly around subdivisions in a rusted, run-down pick-up with a ladder on top, and spends his days tinkering with doorknobs?
Well, if that’s what folks think of handymen, we at Fix St Louis have a problem. Because “handyman” is what they call US!. Even worse, we ourselves haven’t come up with a better word!
You all know about Fix St Louis handymen. They operate at the same high professional level of the very best carpenters, plumbers, and electricians. In fact, our technicians actually do most of what they do, but also do something they don’t – they work on SMALL JOBS. In fact, we PREFER them. Our very professional technicians have at least 10 years of experience, no criminal record, and this obscure trait rarely found in the trades called “people skills.” And while you might recognize Fix St Louis technicians as “jacks-of-all-trades”, they are more accurately described as “MASTERS-of-all-trades.”
We at Fix St Louis accept responsibility for finding a better word for what our technicians are called, given that the English language doesn’t seem to be of any help. So far, we’ve been looking at two languages that have their own words for things there ought to be an English word for.
There’s German, which has that wonderful word “schadenfreude.“ That’s defined as “pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune.”
And while Yiddish words without English equivalents are usually insults that are hilarious, we did come across one that might work – “mensch.” That’s “a person of integrity, honor, and noble character—a ‘good person’ whom others should admire and emulate.”
So next time Fix St Louis is at your house, tell our technician what you think of the idea of calling him a “handi-mensch.” Hopefully, without also spitting on him at the same time, which is a problem with pronouncing words in both German and Yiddish.
But whatever you call us, we’re just grateful that you call Fix St Louis at all. And when you do, we’ll send over a mensch to make your home one that others will admire and emulate.
Dr Steve