Self-employed burglars

Interviewed a heroin addict house burglar, who said that he was particularly desperate for drugs that day and needed to "earn" some money quickly. By which he meant, of course, go off thieving.

A particularly inelegant and inappropriate term to use in the circumstances of his particular employment, I thought. But I can see why he finds it an attractive description, as it both distances himself from the reality of his actions, and even gives his criminal endeavours a sort of moral worthyness and respectability. Except that I don't suppose he pays tax or national insurance contributions. There can't be many burglars who register their trade with Inland Revenue, I guess.