A person who drives a taxi cab for a living.
British slang formed by adding the diminutive suffix '-y' or '-ie' to 'cab,' which itself comes from 'cabriolet,' a French horse-drawn carriage. The term became common in the 19th century as motorized taxis replaced horse-drawn vehicles.
Cabbies have been called the 'unofficial historians' of cities—they know streets, shortcuts, and neighborhood stories better than almost anyone, which is why they appear so often in crime novels and films as sources of crucial information.
Occupational suffix '-y' applied generically to taxi drivers, historically male-dominated roles. Feminine variants ('cabbess') rarely existed, erasing female drivers.
Use 'taxi driver' or 'cab driver' for occupational reference to avoid gendered diminutive.
["taxi driver","cab driver"]
Women have driven cabs since the 1920s; generic 'cabby' failed to recognize their participation in the profession.
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