salesman
(ˈseɪlzmæn)
Also 6 salys-man; and see saleman, sale n.2 3.
[f. sale's, genit. of sale n.2 + man n.1 Cf. craftsman, tradesman.]
A man whose business it is to sell goods or conduct sales. Also transf.
The following are specific applications: a. One who sells goods or produce for another, e.g. one who acts as middleman between the grazier or the killer of cattle and the butcher. † b. One who sells ready-made clothing. (Cf. sale n.2 4 a.) c. orig. U.S. A commercial traveller (also transf.). d. † salesman's dog: a tout.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §134 It is not conuenient that the salesman, that selleth the wod, shuld be partener with the bier. 1548 W. Forrest Pleas. Poesye 441 in Starkey's Life & Lett. p. xcvi*, What the Salys-man is the ware ofte dothe teache. 1697 Lond. Gaz. No. 3341/8 Tho, Middleton late of West-Smithfield, London, Salesman, deceased. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Salesman's-dog, the same as Barker. Ibid., Sales-men, brokers who sell Cattel for the Graziers to the Butchers, before, and at the Beast-Market; also Sellers of ready-made Cloaths. 1717 Prior Alma i. 166 This looks, friend Dick, as Nature had But exercis'd the Salesman's Trade: As if She haply had sat down, And cut out Cloaths for all the Town. 1717 Swift Prol. to Gay's Three Hours after Marriage 25 Poets make Characters, as Salesmen Clothes. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 28 ¶3 Miss Mohair, the daughter of a salesman. 1777 Howard Prisons Eng. 183 A generous Benefactor (a salesman in Smithfield) often sends the Prisoners beef and bread. 1831 Youatt Horse 47 He [sc. Eclipse] was..sold at his death to Mr. Wildman, a sheep salesman for seventy-five guineas. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 378/2 Should the salesman [i.e. a pedlar] succeed with the mistress, he carries out his promise to the maid by presenting her with a cap ribbon, or a cheap neckerchief. 1851 Meat-salesman [see meat n. 5]. 1851 Dead salesman [see dead n.1 6]. 1883 Cotton in Law Times Rep. XLIX. 723/1 The defendants have let all these stalls to salesmen. 1885 Law Rep. 14 Q.B. Div. 248 Salesmen had brought their carts with fruit or vegetables to Spitalfields Market on the market days. 1891 Ibid. Weekly Notes 80/1 A farmer in Northamptonshire sent certain meat to a salesman in the Central Meat market..for sale. 1891 Cent. Dict., Salesman,..a commercial traveler. [U.S.] 1912 J. Sandilands Western Canad. Dict., Salesman, a commercial traveller, a drummer, a store counter-man, or a man who canvasses real estate. 1930 Amer. Speech VI. 134 Salesman, confidence man. 1937 Daily Herald 15 Jan. 12/8 Increased employment means that people are replacing old-fashioned furniture for [sic] new, and the attractive designs made possible by veneering are good salesmen. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §507/3 Pimp; procurer..crack salesman,..salesman. 1944 Amer. N. & Q. IV. 10/2 A transportation company in New Jersey now refers to its drivers and motormen as ‘salesmen’. 1945 Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. I. 588 American milk-wagon drivers are called milk-salesmen and bakers' deliverymen bread-salesmen. 1968–70 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 105 Salesman, n. Pimp; one who sells anything. |
Hence ˈsalesmanship, the condition or character of being a (good) salesman; also fig.
| 1880 Blackmore Mary Anerley II. ix. 162 He made a good stroke of salesmanship. 1887 Old Man's Favour I. ii. i. 202 The art-pottery stall, under the attractive salesmanship of Canon Elwyn. 1930 Economist 20 Dec. 1164/2 The Prince of Wales, who is shortly leaving for Buenos Aires, where he will open the British Empire Trade Exhibition, delivered an outspoken address on salesmanship. 1936 Discovery Apr. 129/2 Consult any of the books on psychology and salesmanship so numerous on the market. 1937 Wodehouse Ld. Emsworth & Others v. 172 When a woman is to all intents and purposes waiting for a demon lover, it requires super-salesmanship to induce her to accept on the this-is-just-as-good principle an Ernest Plinlimmon. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 12 Jan. 102/2 Salesmanship in food is liable to be overrated because nothing is more distasteful than..food, when you have had enough. |