Quick links
rig pig
Informal, also derogatory
DCHP-3 (Mar 2023)
n. — Western Canada, Mining, Trades
a person who works in oil extraction (oil rig).
Type: 5. Frequency — The term rig pig seems to have been popularized in Canada with Alberta's oil & gas boom in the 1970s and early 80s. Chart 1 shows rig pig to be frequent in the Canada, the UK and Ireland, but not in the US. It seems to be inspired by British Isles usage in North Sea contexts.
The term rig pig originally referenced the mostly male labourers of the oil & gas sector whose work involved heavy machinery (see the third 2018 quotation). Today, however, females are also working as rig pigs (see the 2015 quotation). Handling a product that stains skin and clothes, the workers were labelled as "pigs", playing on the connotations of pigs as "dirty" animals. The term rig pig has also carried sexual connotations (see the 2006 and 2021 quotations).
Because of these connotations, the term rig pig is considered derogatory by many (see the second 2013 quotation), and offensively so by some (see the 1992 and 2015 quotations). Others, however, consider rig pig to be a term that simply, perhaps affectionately, describes a type of labourer (see,. e.g. the second 2013, the first and second 2018, and the 2019 quotations, besides Image 1).
The term is not listed in Merriam-Webster Unabridged or in OED-3.
The term rig pig originally referenced the mostly male labourers of the oil & gas sector whose work involved heavy machinery (see the third 2018 quotation). Today, however, females are also working as rig pigs (see the 2015 quotation). Handling a product that stains skin and clothes, the workers were labelled as "pigs", playing on the connotations of pigs as "dirty" animals. The term rig pig has also carried sexual connotations (see the 2006 and 2021 quotations).
Because of these connotations, the term rig pig is considered derogatory by many (see the second 2013 quotation), and offensively so by some (see the 1992 and 2015 quotations). Others, however, consider rig pig to be a term that simply, perhaps affectionately, describes a type of labourer (see,. e.g. the second 2013, the first and second 2018, and the 2019 quotations, besides Image 1).
The term is not listed in Merriam-Webster Unabridged or in OED-3.
See: shit disturber
Like shit disturber, the term rig pig can be used as an insult or as a marker of pride, depending on the speaker's point of view.
Quotations
1986
Jimmy Cahoon sums up his job in two words: "rig pig."
The phrase is tatooed on his chest (along with a lady in the nude and a wreath embossed with the word "Mother" ), and he's proud of his work as a storage handler aboard an oil rig bobbing several miles off Sable Island.
A storage handler gets every dirty job on a rig but Jimmy doesn't mind. Out on the rig the nearest beer is 67 nautical miles away and that means Jimmy is 67 nautical miles from trouble.
Jimmy, you see, has this weakness for waitresses who sling beer in the Halifax waterfront taverns he prefers.
1992
In this article Jon Ferry refers to oil rig hands as "rig pigs." I would like to know his source for such an insulting and demeaning term. These people have always been referred to as "roughnecks". I sincerely hope Ferry did not coin the phrase.
2002
To be sure, the actuarial table for Susan and Tom's relationship doesn't exactly whisper everlasting bliss. She's a prim, middle- class nurse who favours Mozart motets; he's an unemployed, ponytailed rig pig into Motorhead, Judas Priest and his Camaro.
2006
While an oil and gas boom is good for business, it has complex social and sexual impacts, says Goldenberg. Labels like “rig pig” and “gold digger” emerge to describe sexual behaviour, related to perceptions about wages and work schedules affecting sexual behaviour.
2012
Directional signage will point to the various oil and gas fields in the region, and the rig will be complete with a ceremonial flare stack that can be lit for special occasions. A life-size statue of a ‘rig pig’ will also be constructed at the site.
2013
A report from the Conference Board of Canada suggests it’s better to be a rig pig on the Prairies than a health-care worker in Ontario from a labour perspective.
The board’s forecast released Tuesday says workers in Alberta and Saskatchewan will fare the best in wage increases next year largely due to a shortage of qualified employees in the energy sector.
2013
“I left a small town to go to university and avoid becoming a rig pig, and now they are trying to take it away,” said Teigen Robin, a University of Lethbridge student.
“I already work two jobs and have a student loan — it’s ridiculous and I fear for what will happen,” she said.
2015
I always wonder why there are some folks who insist on identifying those clad in the blue and yellow covvies (coveralls) as "rig pigs" or "oilfield trash."
My husband and my son are not trash. My friend and neighbor is not a "rig pig." My father wasn't trash or a "rig pig."
Many of these men and women (yes, there are more and more women all the time entering the energy sector) are hard working, intelligent individuals who can project manage and trouble shoot like a NASA scientist. Don't laugh, have you seen what they do? Let's just say that my inability to read a tape measure would be the least of my problems.
2018
Frustrated westerners are watching and wondering: Is the livelihood of a rig pig equal to the livelihood of a rivet head? Will this government be as inept in handling Ontario's collapsing manufacturing sector as it has been in handling the oilpatch? Or will that province's proximity to Ottawa earn it the sort of special care that we would never receive out here in the hinterland?
2018
Brother turned against sister this week. The House of the West divided.
It's hippie vs. rig pig; British Columbia against Alberta.
2018
Rig Pig Fantasia isn’t a play built on a satisfying, recognizable infrastucture — two guys operating heavy oil machinery together, bonding, and learning a lesson, for example, or a man reinventing himself. It’s unhinged from those moorings, having a wander. Go with it.
2019
I was tempted to try the original staple- Gurvinder's butter chicken, but instead opted for the Rig Pig beer battered fish and chips.
2021
Speaking of one such woman “down the road,” a male journeyman acknowledged that “for a woman to try and break through, it’s not easy,” noting that “we’re not a rig company, but you hear of that ‘rig pig’ mentality.” He went on to say that “it’s gotten better over the years, but it definitely wouldn’t be an easy place for a woman to work.”
References
- Merriam-Webster Unabridged
- OED-3
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 10 April 2025
