Wrangler

 

Figure 1

My granddaughter bought two T-shirts last night with the Wrangler logo emblazoned on the front, similar to that shown in Figure 1. I asked her what the word meant and she didn't know. Neither, I realised, did I. I vaguely recalled that the verb "wrangle" meant to haggle over something but what was a wrangler, apart form someone involved in the wrangling process?

Well, other T-shirt designs give the clue. Figure 2 shows the Wrangler logo with the image of a horse beneath it.

Figure 2

As Wikipedia explains:

In North America, a wrangler is someone employed to handle animals professionally, especially horses, but sometimes other types of animals as well. The word "wrangler" is derived from the Low German "wrangeln" meaning "to dispute" or "to wrestle". It was first documented in 1377. Its use as a noun was first recorded in 1547. Its reference to a "person in charge of horses or cattle" or "herder" was first recorded in 1888.

A wrangler is an individual involved in the process of taming, controlling and handling various animals, specifically horses. Traditionally this process involves herding cattle and bringing horses in from the paddock. Wranglers often work for other cowboys or tourists who want to ride on North American ranches. Variations of wrangling include managing herds, dude-wrangling, rodeo and managing horses as a part of stunt work in the film industry. Wranglers are also considered a subcategory of cowboys, being responsible for herding horses rather than cattle. The profession of wrangling has developed over time, as wranglers are educated to perform more activities as the tourism sector has become increasingly important in the employment of wranglers.

Wranglers also handle the horses and other animals during the making of motion pictures. A dude-wrangler is a cowboy or guide that takes non-wranglers and non-cowboys (dudes) on western riding horseback trips.

In the film industry, a wrangler is also one who professionally searches for and/or handles particular products on film and television programs, and music videos, such as custom cars or animals.

So a wrangler is a profession and it's a specifically North American term which is why I wasn't familiar with it. Of course, the name Wrangler has also been given to a type of jeep. See Figure 3.

Figure 3: 2021 Jeep Wrangler

I'll use this opportunity to look at words that rhyme with wrangler, namely:

Figure 4: source

Of these words, only "strangler" and "angler" are common, the others being rarely used nouns from common verbs. For example, the verb "entangle" is an everyday word whereas the noun "entangler" is seldom heard.