Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗A British infantryman, especially one from World War I. Ellipsis of Tommy Atkins. · Bread or breadlike foodstuff, generally a penny roll. · The supply of food carried by workmen as their daily allowance. · A truck, or barter; the exchange of labour for goods instead of money; the scrip by which such exchange occurs.
To pay (employees) according to the truck system, with goods instead of money.
Generally agreed to have come from appellativization of Tommy in most senses, but the historical details are apparently largely unknown, including whether such an evolution happened several times (with one sense being independent of another).
This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
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Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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"Bread or breadlike foodstuff, generally a penny roll.",
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"To pay (employees) according to the truck system, with goods instead of money."
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