Ply your trade In english explanation

The meaning, explanation, definition and origin of the idiom/phrase "ply your trade", English Idiom Dictionary ( also found in Vietnamese )

author Helen Nguyen calendar 2021-02-19 12:02

Meaning of Ply your trade

Synonyms:

do your business

Ply your trade formal Written language verb phrase

To work or do your job

This is the coffee shop that I plied my trade as barista

Jane was not the only staff plying her trade on the day of the incident

To do a kind of work that sell goods or services on the street

Food vendors usually ply their trade around the school area.

Taxis frequently ply their trade outside the theatre and hotels.

Other phrases about:

Few Words and Many Deeds

actions are more important than words

work like a beaver

To work very diligently and energetically

work like a Trojan

To work extremely hard

can't call (one's) soul (one's) own

Use most of one's time working for others

there's no business like show business

The entertainment industry and those who work in it is more exciting and dazzling when compared to any other

Grammar and Usage of Ply your trade

Verb Forms

  • ply your trade
  • to ply your trade
  • plied your trade
  • will ply your trade
  • be plying your trade

The verb "ply" should be conjugated according to its tense

Origin of Ply your trade

Caption: This phrase is mostly used of a kind of work that tries to sell goods or services to people outdoors. (Source: Internet)

Most people do not know exactly when this phrase can be traced, but they do know the its origin."Ply", being a variant form of "apply", means "to apply, work busily at", and in that sense "ply one's trade" was once used of any kind of occupation. (You could speak, for example, of a tailor "plying his needle"). However, "ply" has a second sense. Of a ship, boat or bus, it means to travel regularly between certain places; and of a porter, taxi, etc, to "ply for hire" means "to attend or have one's stand at a regular place to be hired". ("Ply for hire" is still a technical term in the UK, used in taxi licensing regulations, etc.) Since streetwalkers do indeed "ply for hire" in just this way, it's natural that theirs is one of the few occupations of which "ply one's trade" is still rotutinely used. (Source: phrase.org.uk)

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