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"Barrow Boy" is or was a derogatory comment in English society. I just watched "Rumpole and the Barrow Boy" (Season 5 Episode 2 1988). In that episode there were rich upper-class Brits who were trading on the stock market. Then there was a young man who had been born poor and had worked his way up to middle class... well the old rich Brits referred to the young man as a "Barrow Boy" as an insult. Maybe the term has it's roots in someone who carried a stretcher I don't know.... but would be interested in finding out :)
Bakerbob65 (talk) 06:55, 31 October 2011 (UTC)
a little context edit
"The word 'sandboy' brings to mind images of a child playing on the beach, making sand-castles and the like. In fact, sandboy was the name of those who delivered sand to public houses, theatres and homes in the 18th and 19th centuries. Children were used in that trade, but most sandboys were adults. This use of 'boy' has frequently been used for low-status male workers, as in tea-boy, barrow-boy, house-boy etc." http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/as-happy-as-a-sandboy.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bakerbob65 (talk • contribs) 08:23, 14 November 2011 (UTC)