I was initially confused when I read it, but I think that ‘trader’ here must be the politically-correct word for ‘tradesman’ (someone engaged in a trade) rather than someone who trades (like a stockbroker).
You're correct, "cowboy traders" is a British idiom for tradesmen without the appropriate skills, qualifications or experience to fulfil their contract responsibility.
It can also refer to those who will take on contracts (plumbing / landscaping / roofing / building work / etc) without any intention of fulfilling them, or charge exorbitant, inappropriate and unagreed prices.
It's in such common British use that a TV show named "Cowboy Traders" was aired in 2012.
But it's understandable why they haven't used that here, as an insulation installer would rarely be called a builder, just like an electrician or plumber would rarely be called a builder.
In the UK all people who do these kinds of jobs(builder, plumbers, electricians etc) are called traders, I've never heard anyone use the word "tradesman".
Yes, but as I understand it, being a "sole trader" is different from being a "tradesperson". If you're an employed plumber, or you're a plumber with your own limited company, then you're a tradesperson but not a sole trader. If you do web sites or IT support on your own and without having set up a limited company then you're a sole trader but not a tradesperson.
The trouble with "trader" is that it usually means something else, namely someone who trades. A tradesperson doesn't trade; they practise a trade (= craft/profession).
Visit a UK builders' merchant or DIY store and they'll offer a 'trade account' with a 'trade discount' and 'trade deals' - they'll even sell you 'trade paint'
Ambiguous on a global scale? Maybe. Ambiguous when you're standing in a builders' merchant? Absolutely not.
....What definition? As a Brit, I'm telling you that's what we call people in these professions, anyone who comes to work on your house is a "trader" - you can choose to believe me or not lol.
Edit: and as another commenter pointed out, it's literally the government definition of someone running their own business - "sole trader".
Perhaps it is (or at least was) to some extent regional. Oxford English Dictionary does not have the sense of "trader" that's being discussed here. It does however have "tradesman = A man engaged in a trade or a skilled manual occupation". It also has a second sense for that word: "tradesman = A man engaged in trade or the sale of goods and commodities" and one of the examples for that sense, from 1906, is this sentence:
> ‘Tradesman’, which in the north is used to denote a workman who has learned a trade, while in the south it is made to apply to a man who runs a business.
That was more than a hundred years ago and things may have moved on a bit since then, and in any case that sentence is quoted as an example rather than a claim by the editors of the dictionary, but perhaps despite my current place of residence I'm a northerner at heart?
'Cowboy' insert trade here. The ride into town, take on the job and your money, then ride off into the sunset never to be seen again and leave you to clean up the mess...
It's a really old, and well known, UK expression, and not an affectionate one.
Although 'Tradesman' (or tradeswoman) is the overwhelmingly correct term in the UK for those kind of jobs, whether the work they produce is good or bad.
It is correct in so far as Trader == tradesmen. But it isn't some "politically correct" thing. Also attributing political correctness to terms is often a political move in and of themselves.
There is nothing politically correct or incorrect about it. It is just the standard term. Meanwhile in Australia they use 'Tradie' from what I understand.
