The longshoreman, who helps load and unload ships, gets his name from a
contraction of “along-shore-man,” while the synonym stevedore is from the
Spanish estibador, “one who packs things.” A shenango is a specialized
longshoreman, one who handles cargo on railroad barges. His name derives from
the county Chenango in up-state New York, from where many such workers were once
recruited.