White Collar and Blue Collar Come From Actual Shirts
A collar encircles the neck. The colour of a worker's collar became shorthand for a whole class of job.
A collar is the band of a garment around the neck. The class metaphor is literal: office workers wore white shirts that showed dirt, manual workers wore darker blue ones that did not. *White collar* is recorded from the 1910s, *blue collar* from the 1920s, and later coinages such as pink collar and green collar followed the pattern.
- A neckband on clothing. *A stiff collar.*
- A band on an animal. *A dog collar.*
- To seize. *The police collared him.*
- Collar in job descriptions. *Blue collar work.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | collar | A frayed collar. |
| Plural | collars | Two collars. |
| Verb | collar | Collar the suspect. |
| Compound | white collar | White collar crime. |
| Related | necklace | A pearl necklace. |
How it is used in a sentence
- White collar crime rarely involves violence.Fraud and embezzlement.
- He was collared at the gate.Caught.
- Hot under the collar.Angry.
Collar colours
- White collar — office and professional work
- Blue collar — manual and industrial work
- Pink collar — jobs historically dominated by women, such as care and clerical work
- Green collar — environmental sector jobs
- Grey collar — skilled technical work bridging the two
From Old French *coler*, from Latin *collare*, a neckband, from *collum*, neck — the same root as *décolleté*.
Why blue and white?
Manual workers wore darker shirts that hid dirt, office workers white ones. The clothing became shorthand for the work.
What is white collar crime?
Non-violent crime committed for financial gain in a business context, such as fraud, bribery or embezzlement.